Waste = food

While reading this chapter in Cradle-to-Cradle, I found several points interesting. One that specifically caught my attention was the idea that “products containing valuable technical nutrients could be reconceived as services people want to enjoy”. I liked this because it is a new way of thinking about products. However, we, as consumers must first overcome the mind-set of having a ‘virgin product. McDonough and Braungart say it best when describing this thought - “This virgin product is mine, for the very first time. When I am finished with it, everyone is. It’s history. Industries design and plan according to this mind-set”. If we went away from this and leaned more towards the philosophy that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Our environment would improve drastically. Or if we renewed products in such a way that they are perceived as a ‘virgin product’, we could diminish this thought.

My notion is to have an apparel store that reuses old clothes. The customer must bring in an old article of clothing in order to purchase something “new” or recycled clothing from our store. The old clothes do not “necessarily” need to be from our brand; however the clothes must not contain harmful dyes and chemicals. And we would give a free eco-friendly bottle of detergent in with each purchase – because of this the clothing line would be a little more expensive. Also, if the consumer brought in the old empty bottle of our detergent for recycled purposes, we would give them a generous discount for another bottle of detergent. This goes along with the all of values “reduce, reuse, and recycle”. I decided on giving an environmentally-safe detergent because each part of the products life-cycle is important in working towards a greener earth. McDonough and Braungart describe this idea flawlessly, stating, “If our systems contaminate Earth’s biological mass and continue to throw away technical materials or render them useless, we will indeed live in a world of limits, where production and consumption are restrained, and the Earth will literally become a grave”. This is exactly why we make recycling an item mandatory to purchase an item. Some make think this is too harsh, but people go through wardrobes nearly monthly, and our minimum requirement would be only one article of clothing – no matter how big or small it is. As a frequent consumer in the apparel industry, I would undoubtedly participate in a shopping environment like this – I have hope that others would too!

Locally owned, locally grown - not as hard as it sounds

When I was first stopped and asked what ideas I had to make the apparel industry more sustainable, I was caught off guard. My initial thought was, ‘I am not a designer or a scientist. How am I supposed to come up with new environmentally sustainable production systems?’ But then I realized, it is my job to do this. I, as a future fashion industry worker, a buyer, and a customer, have a duty. My first idea works on the principle of producing entirely locally. Fletcher (2008) shows us the harsh reality, “The average t-shirt travels the equivalent distance of once around the globe during its production” (p. 139-140). This is unacceptable. And we must keep in mind how many t-shirts each one of us own in our possession, alone. I think this is wild, considering all of the cotton farms in Oklahoma and Texas alone. So, my idea is to put government regulations on this. I believe there should be a limit of how far a product – fiber, machine, tool, etc. – can be shipped for use during production. I know a government regulation seems extreme, however, I feel that this is the only way for this to work. I realize that production owners may feel local products are more expensive or not up to their standards, however if they used these products like they use the ones in China, for example, the price and durability would increase as profits increased. Fletcher (2008) explains, “Local products inspire and challenge the community while at the same time creating jobs and making use of local resources” (p. 140). China was not born the biggest producer of the apparel industry; they made it through hard work, locally-owned production, and starting with nearly nothing. We must start somewhere! I know in my small hometown they promote local buying through “Fairview bucks” or money that can only be used in Fairview, Oklahoma stores. I thought this was brilliant! I think that campaigning is a subtle way is so much more effective than commercial jingles or harsh reality commercials.

                       (this photo is taken from a cotton farm in southwest Oklahoma)

            The second IE principle that I found interesting was working together. If textile producers would join with brands and work in one location that would decrease distributing immensely. Also, if these companies expanded and built more economically friendly buildings near or even in their main target distributions cities, the gas usage would shrink dramatically. Of course, pessimists may consider the cost of building a new factory and making that industrial unit very eco-friendly and efficient, but I believe if the company markets their ideas to their customers, they will be more likely to pay a little more for that product. For example, Toms shoes are not necessarily chic shoes, but millions of people will pay $40-$60 for them because Toms shoes gives a pair to an underprivileged child for each pair purchased. If we work off of this principle, we can change the ecosystem together. It is not something that can be changed alone or overnight, but each person matters for the advancement to work.

Targeting a greener earth

New design concepts are coming plentiful; however they are not life-changing, yet. In order to come up with a new idea that will change our future for the better, we, as designers, must put our heads together. In order to come up with an idea that makes the entire industry sustainable and the environment pollution-free, Benyus (1997) looks at the ecosystem for inspiration - “the natural world is full of models for a more sustainable economic system – prairies, coral reefs, oak-hickory forests, and more. These nature ecosystems do everything we want to do. They self-organize into a diverse and integrated community of organisms with a common purpose – to maintain their presence in one place, make the most of what is available, and endure over the long haul” (p. 248). This is a great place to look for inspiration! If we can recognize what limited resources we have and learn to work with them in an incredibly substantial fashion then we will be able to work towards a greener earth. First, we must come up with new concepts. I, personally, like to look at how we are marketing for a more sustainable environment.

This video clip about organic cotton is great – it is direct and simple, and it shows the consumer that is it their responsibility, while not being too over-aggressive. But why is this not working? I think it is not an efficient way to market sustainable products because it is not taking its’ target market into account. The majority of recurring clothes’ buyers’ is young to middle-aged women and some men. So the correct questions is – is what are these people most influenced by? I think it is television shows, movies, and social media. Therefore we must market a greener world there. Working off of a blog buddies idea to put recycling actions in shows such a Jersey Shore – I think we should have TV shows like The Voice, The Ellen Show, and others like this advertise more green-earth responsibilities.  I think it is SO important to focus on the target market – and/or the biggest users of unsustainable products and practices.

Benyus, J. (1997). Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature. New

York, NY: Perrenial.