Woven Spider Silk

Just a quick blog post prior to viewing:

Spider Silk: one of the strongest, lightweight materials known has now been woven into fabric. On show at the V&A till 5 June.

I wonder how the projects to replicate spider silk are getting on..

Buy Nothing Day

Did anyone else know it was ‘Buy Nothing Day’? I had no idea, but I do remember reading about the campaign months ago in a book. I have to admit I went out this morning; brought some bits and even placed an order on HMV for Christmas presents. Ironically it was one of my buys that informed me! The Guide (The Guardian’s wonderful weekly guide) contains a humorous cartoon with a statement underneath:

You’ve brought the Guardian, now take a 24-hour holiday from consumerism for Buy Nothing Day

It’s a shame the campaign is not more widely advertised as I would have liked to try and take part. I have ultimately decided to try the challenge tomorrow, which should be easier as it’s Sunday – nice.

But, seriously I do think that Buy Nothing Day is a good effort to tackle consumerism. The underlying tactic is to make people think about what they need, over what they want. Generally what we want thus buy, we never actually need. Employing this method of thinking has certainly helped me to limit my spending over the last year. I urge you to give it a go, save your money for experiences. I promise you the feel good feeling will last much longer. Let’s roll out Buy Nothing Day to once a month, not a year.

Lets Clean Up Fashion 2011

Labour Behind the Label has released its 5th edition of The Let's Clean up Fashion 2011: The state of pay behind the UK high street. I remember reading the 1st edition (some years ago now) when I was studying for my BA Fashion degee. The report opened my eyes to the workings of the fashion industry and triggered something in me to research more.




The report focuses on the living wage and grades many UK fashion retailers from 0-5m for example 0=does not accept the principle of living wage and 5=sustained implementation of an effective living wage policy across entire supply base.

It's safe to say that no retailers researched for this study achieved a grade 5. M&S, Monsoon Accessorize and Next lead with a grade of 3.5, while reatailers such as French Connection, Gap, H&M and Levis Straus staddle behind with a grade 1. The most shocking results of the study are the reatilers graded 0: Hobbs, Paul Smith, Reiss and White Stuff all of which cover a higher price point within the market. However the flaw within this grading is obvious when looking at the Data collected for these retailers; all except one (I will let you read to discover who) states that the retailer 'did not respond to our request for information and makes no information available on their website'. I do not think this is sufficient evidence to tar these companies with a grade 0, but the argument for this could be they must be hiding something. However, hiding something does not mean they have to be hiding something bad. What do you think?

Future Fabrics Expo

I was so excited to receive an invite to the Future Fabrics Expo. It looks like a brilliant event and its free! Take a look:



The only problem, its on a working day. I printed the invite and presented it to my manager proudly, advertising it as a great opportunity to discover new developments for technologists and designers alike. 'Brilliant,' she said 'I'll send Mandy (name changed for legal reasons, but our fabric technologist).' I must admit I was miffed. I wanted to go. Everyone please wallow in my sadness, especially as I wont be able to cover it on my blog :(

Wales vs. Plastic Bags (err… or disposable bags)

I do love – no wait, maybe love is too strong a word – I do like my reusable bags:
a) they are strong and don’t break
b) I can fit quite a lot of stuff in them
c) some are small enough to tie up and keep in my handbag
and
d) they display pretty pictures and don’t advertise huge multinational companies.

I first heard about the Welsh plastic bag ban proposals on BBC Breakfast some days ago and was instantly impressed. Finally, a decision on this island has been made to try and prevent people from engaging with disposable products. Hurrah! However I’m not sure if charging 5p for a bag will stop people from using them or simply mean that people will use them but pay for them instead. But an outright ban could be too totalitarian… I guess.

So what’s wrong with plastic bags? Why have Wales taken this stance?

The Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones as called plastic bags “a waste of natural resources” – agreed. Up to 273 bags per Welsh household were consumed last year from supermarkets alone, indicating a consumer reliance on the disposable carrier while also highlighting the major problem of waste. Ultimately the plastic bag is designed for single meaning that local authorities can spend up to £1m clearing them every year. By imposing this ban or charge Wales expect to reduce usage by 90%.


Source: The Guardian

So, any rules?

Well, firstly it’s not just plastic bags: paper and plant material bags are also included. They all waste energy is the argument – true. So the real ban is any form of disposable bag, something the headlines are missing out.

Secondly, plastic bags, or should I say disposable bags, can be freely given out for food products that are not already packaged.

Are they really that bad?

In the grand scale of things, perhaps not: according to George Monbiot in today’s Guardian carrier bags account for 3.2% of domestic waste – not a lot really. But this one small step for man could be the giant leap to protect the environment and other species with share this planet with. I have to admit; after hearing that oestrogen is released into the oceans when the bags breakdown ultimately entering the food chain I immediately felt ill. No-one wants to be fat, infertile or cause cancer. That should be an indicator for everyone that plastic bags should be phased out.

Now go and dig out that reusable bag you promised to use.


Source: Bag It Don't Bin It


Source: Eco Green Bags

Plenty more Fashion Articles, Please

Back in Janurary I emailed The Ecologist firstly to invite them to MA Fashion and the Environment's graduate showcase (2011) and secondly to encourage them to write more sustainable fashion articles along with possible stories. I received a lovely email back saying that the new editor was keen to cover more fashion and beauty stories on the website. I didnt see much for a while, but success: lots of fashion related articles have been posted on The Ecologist's website. Hurray I hear you cry (or I do anyway).

There are some really interesting articles that I think are worth a good read:

Safia Minney: fashion's impact on the earth - The People Tree founder discusses the environmental damage caused by fasion.

Inside the London College of Fashion's eco-hub - Celebrating the wonderful Centre for Sustainable Fashion.

The ecological guide to Estethica - celebrating it's fifth year at London Fashion Week.


Source: The Ecologist

Carbon Emissions - The Use Phase

I have struggled to write recently due to starting a new job, which I am excited to say subscribe to Ecotextile. Score.

This is a quick post to share a quote from an article I have read (Issue 44, page 66) about carbon emitted as a result of the global consumption of clothing:

'The report, International Carbon Flows - Clothing, says that the global consumption of clothing results is around 330MtCO2 of emissions, with emissions from the use phase resulting in an additional 550MTCO2 per year, primarily from washing and drying but including ironing and dry cleaning, - equivalent to around 2% of total global CO2 emissions.' (Ecotextile, 2011)

Isn't the use phase just insane!? Almost double that of production, shipping and retail.

This pinpoints yet again that designers and innovators really need to explore methods to reduce the impact during the use phase.