Fashion & Design Level 3 - Ethical Fashion
Thursday 12 July 2012
Sustainable Fashion
Stella McCartney is renowned for being one of the most well known designers but incorporating sustainable techniques into her collections. She has said 'I want to incorporate sustainable fabrics but not make hippy clothes' I think this shows how sustainable fashion has moved on, in the early days it was mainly about saving the world and not harming too many trees and abolishing slave labour and of course, all of these need to stop and the only way sustainable fashion will help, is if the garments are desirable.
Rapanui http://www.rapanuiclothing.com/ is a brand based on the isle of wight, it's a commercial brand as it appeals to surfers and skaters and all round 'dudes' and 'dudettes' however, there textile mill aim India uses wind turbines to power it, which they use to make organic cotton, cotton can only be called organic if it is totally free of destructive toxic pesticides and chemical fertilisers.
When I first looked at sustainable fashion I thought I would find out what I already thought I knew, that sustainable fashion just means buying a quality peice that would last you ages instead of buying a few cheap t-shirts. Which is partly right but I thought I'd have a look at what the bigwigs in fashion thought it meant:
Frida Gianni, gucci creative director
'quality items that stand the test of time, it is this concept of sustainability that is symbolised by a timeless handbag you can wear again and again'
Oscar de la Renta
'A commitment to the traditional techniques and not just the art'
Anya Hindmarch, initiator of 'I am not a plastic bag'
'the idea of locally sourced materials that don't pollute in their creation or demise (preferably recycled) and with limited transportation.
Jamie Alexander, emerging fashion designer and writer of this post
'it's difficult to say what sustainable really means when everyone has different opinions, just as long as I can design and make without harming the environment, using recycled and organic materials where possible and absolutely never using slaves and taking advantage of low paid workers'
- Jamie.
Portland Fashion Week, which is the biggest fashion week in the Pacific Northwest and one of the largest in the nation, has received global recognition as the first and only eco-sustainable production of a fashion week in the world. PFW Productions provides total solutions for a high-end fashion event including runway and installation show production, set design and setup, audio-visual and entertainment, event management services, and promotions. PFW specializes in building relationships between corporations and fashion designers, with a view to create campaigns that are unprecedented and effective. Such unique partnerships lead to extra-ordinary PR buzz, creating worldwide press and attention.Over the years, our corporate relationships encompassed world-known brands, including, Intel, Lufthansa Airlines, Delta Air Line, SolarWorld, Pureology, Adidas, Nike, Polartec and Bawls Guarrana. PFW produced runway shows by famed designers from all over the world, like, Project Runway winner Seth Aaron, Colombian designer Amelia Toro, leading US eco-designer Anna Cohen, Lara Miller, and Pendleton. Such world-class collaborations placed it in global press – Book Moda, Huffington Post, NBC/New York, Marie Claire, Lufthansa in-flight, and Boho Magazine.
Jamie and Jess P
Monday 11 June 2012
Letter: Why not let British dairy farmers join Fairtrade?
Letter: Why not let British dairy farmers join Fairtrade?
Tuesday 12th April 2011, 6:00AM BST.
Letter: From supermarkets I can buy Fairtrade goods so that producers from all over the world receive a good price. I can buy meat, chickens and eggs from sustainable good practice British farms, I can buy fish from sustainable oceans.
So why can I not buy milk from sustainable British dairy farms?Why can’t the supermarkets pay Fairtrade prices for milk so that British dairy farms can stay in business?
At the moment they are dying because this living food is the same price as water in supermarkets.
A factory dairy farm for 1,000 cows is planned near Welshpool next to our school. This will only keep the supermarkets happy and the price per litre so low that more sustainable dairy farms will go out of business.
Imagine 1,000 cattles in sheds.
I will not drink milk produced in this way. If you feel as strongly as I and many others do, please contact your MPs, Welsh AMs, councillors, mayors, supermarkets etc and with enough support we can ban these factory dairies, especially in Wales’s green and pleasant land.
Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/04/12/letter-why-not-let-british-dairy-farmers-join-fairtrade/#ixzz1xTj1ZLJE
British farmers to get Fairtrade cover
British farmers to get Fairtrade cover
Scheme extended from developing world to UK
Food produced in the UK is to be made part of the Fairtrade scheme, which was originally designed to prevent the exploitation of poor farmers in developing countries. Organic farmers' group the Soil Association and the Fairtrade Foundation are to announce an extension of the independent Fairtrade mark to British produce at the association's annual conference today. The Soil Association says the Fairtrade mark is needed in the UK to break away from the "fear chain" that the food production process has become.
Under Fairtrade standards, the price paid to farmers must cover the sustainable cost of production, and include a margin for profit and investment.
The Fairtrade scheme also aims to make a more direct link between farmers and consumers, and reduce the number of intermediaries taking a slice of the profits.
Harriet Lamb, director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: "While our priority is to assist producers in [developing countries] who suffer most from the problems of world trade, we recognise that many of these problems are shared by farmers in developed countries as well."
The plight of farmers, including organic growers, in this country is now so bad, according to Soil Association director Patrick Holden, that they cannot survive unless they are given fairer terms of trade by the supermarkets.
"We no longer have a food chain but a fear chain. Supermarket buyers live in fear of not meeting their targets on margins. They want to buy cheap and sell expensive. The packer lives in fear of not meeting the supermarket targets for cosmetic perfection. The grower lives in fear of having his or her produce rejected or being priced out of business."
Organic farmers have been protected from some of the pressures on conventional farmers in the UK until recently, because their food has fetched a premium.
But competition between the supermarkets to increase their share of the organic market, growing imports encouraged by the high pound, and overproduction in some sectors such as organic milk, have led to a fall in the prices UK growers are paid.
Organic growers are also expected to meet the cosmetic standards of conventional farm produce, even though this may be incompatible with the organic principle of avoiding pesticides, Mr Holden said.
As a result, it is not uncommon for organic farmers to find up to 50% of their crops rejected by supermarkets.
Bruce Carlisle farms organically in Pembrokeshire on land that produces early potatoes and brassicas. Having failed to make any money this year, after 15 successful years as an organic farmer, he will apply to the Fairtrade scheme. He needs 18p per kilo to meet production costs for organic potatoes, but the price he gets at the moment is 15p.
One of his problems is "grade outs": half of his crop is regularly rejected because it has very small surface blemishes.
He would like to see a double pricing structure, where shoppers can chose to pay less for food that may not be cosmetically perfect.
Under a pilot scheme, the Fairtrade mark will be extended to potatoes, beef, bacon, sausages and pork from the UK. British organic milk and other dairy products are also likely to be included.
There are currently about 100 Fairtrade products sold in the UK covering agricultural commodities from some of the world's poorest countries such as coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, honey, and fruit.
Businesses applying for the certificate of Fairtrade for British food will have to demonstrate that in addition to paying producers a fair price, they make a contribution to social and environmental development through projects such as encouraging access to farmland, recycling, and training.
Retail sales of Fairtrade produce in the UK were £46m in 2001 and are expected to have exceeded £53m in 2002.
Under Fairtrade standards, the price paid to farmers must cover the sustainable cost of production, and include a margin for profit and investment.
The Fairtrade scheme also aims to make a more direct link between farmers and consumers, and reduce the number of intermediaries taking a slice of the profits.
Harriet Lamb, director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: "While our priority is to assist producers in [developing countries] who suffer most from the problems of world trade, we recognise that many of these problems are shared by farmers in developed countries as well."
The plight of farmers, including organic growers, in this country is now so bad, according to Soil Association director Patrick Holden, that they cannot survive unless they are given fairer terms of trade by the supermarkets.
"We no longer have a food chain but a fear chain. Supermarket buyers live in fear of not meeting their targets on margins. They want to buy cheap and sell expensive. The packer lives in fear of not meeting the supermarket targets for cosmetic perfection. The grower lives in fear of having his or her produce rejected or being priced out of business."
Organic farmers have been protected from some of the pressures on conventional farmers in the UK until recently, because their food has fetched a premium.
But competition between the supermarkets to increase their share of the organic market, growing imports encouraged by the high pound, and overproduction in some sectors such as organic milk, have led to a fall in the prices UK growers are paid.
Organic growers are also expected to meet the cosmetic standards of conventional farm produce, even though this may be incompatible with the organic principle of avoiding pesticides, Mr Holden said.
As a result, it is not uncommon for organic farmers to find up to 50% of their crops rejected by supermarkets.
Bruce Carlisle farms organically in Pembrokeshire on land that produces early potatoes and brassicas. Having failed to make any money this year, after 15 successful years as an organic farmer, he will apply to the Fairtrade scheme. He needs 18p per kilo to meet production costs for organic potatoes, but the price he gets at the moment is 15p.
One of his problems is "grade outs": half of his crop is regularly rejected because it has very small surface blemishes.
He would like to see a double pricing structure, where shoppers can chose to pay less for food that may not be cosmetically perfect.
Under a pilot scheme, the Fairtrade mark will be extended to potatoes, beef, bacon, sausages and pork from the UK. British organic milk and other dairy products are also likely to be included.
There are currently about 100 Fairtrade products sold in the UK covering agricultural commodities from some of the world's poorest countries such as coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, honey, and fruit.
Businesses applying for the certificate of Fairtrade for British food will have to demonstrate that in addition to paying producers a fair price, they make a contribution to social and environmental development through projects such as encouraging access to farmland, recycling, and training.
Retail sales of Fairtrade produce in the UK were £46m in 2001 and are expected to have exceeded £53m in 2002.
Fair trade for uk farmers..
FAIR TRADE FOR UK
FARMERS |
On 8 February 2006,
Sovereignty was interviewed by Green Futures, the
magazine of Forum for the Future, on the concept of Fair Trade for UK Farmers.
The following is the notes prepared by Alistair McConnachie which
appeared as an article in the February 2006 issue of
Sovereignty.
Pictures: Contractor rowing and baling the
silage at the McConnachie family farm, South West Scotland, July
2005.WHAT IS "FAIR TRADE" The seven principles of the "Fair Trade" concept -- which relates traditionally to trading with the developing world -- are: Fair Wages, Co-operative Workplaces, Consumer Education, Environmental Sustainability, Financial and Technical Support, Respect for Cultural Identity, and Public Accountability. The essence of the concept, however, is the payment of a "fair price" which ensures economic sustainability for both the producers and retailers, working together within a long-term mutually beneficial relationship, enabling both to plan ahead in economic security. LOCATING THE CONCEPT IN A BRITISH CONTEXT How can that concept be translated into a UK context? Clearly there are considerable economic, social and cultural differences between the context of struggling farmers and poverty in the developing world, compared with struggling farmers and levels of rural poverty as they exist in the UK. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to make a direct comparison. However, if we locate the plight of British agriculture within the context of economic globalisation worldwide, then we can understand that many of the same economic dynamics are operating in this country, as operate in the rest of the world, even though the surrounding circumstances and consequences may be different. The dominating economic concept underlying globalisation is one of "international competitiveness and efficiency" regardless of how socially or environmentally damaging this may be. For example, as a result of economic globalisation, we have the worldwide phenomena of more and more farmers being driven off the land. We have the dominance of large corporations in the food chain, who are able to dictate terms. We have ownership of land passing into fewer and fewer hands. We have more and more unnecessary trade, where we import goods we could produce ourselves, or export to countries who could do the same. This is the inevitable result of the economic model of globalisation, and in response to that we advocate economic localisation -- which means discriminating in favour of, and orientating the economic system towards, local and national needs and markets. Fair Trade for UK Farmers would be part of that localising process. Sovereignty encourages the NFU to explore and promote Fair Trade for UK Farmers -- and we suggest that if they did so then they would tap into a considerable amount of latent support among the public. There are three things which the NFU must do if it is to make maximum gains from this idea. THREE THINGS THE NFU MUST DO 1 -- The NFU must see Fair Trade as part of a wider programme of localising policies It would be a mistake for the NFU to see Fair Trade as just a temporary, fashionable bandwagon upon which they could jump, and which might offer a quick, short-term way of helping a few members to make some money. Rather Fair Trade as a policy should be embraced within a much wider programme of localising policies. 2 -- The NFU must change its fundamental economic concepts and its globalising rhetoric A lot of what the NFU says, economically, is responsible for the demise of British farming. It emphasises "international competitiveness and efficiency" and seems to suggest that if its members don't become "efficient" then they should go to the wall. The results of that globalising mentality are all around us. So the NFU will have to learn that it will not be able to talk "Fair Trade localisation" out of one side of its mouth and out of the other talk about British farmers "becoming more efficient in order to survive in the global market place" and other mantras which will inevitably mean that British farming goes under. The reality is that British farmers cannot compete with the international market. For example, how can a Scottish sheep farmer in the midst of a bitter winter compete with a New Zealand farmer who can ranch his sheep in mild weather all year? If it embraces the concept of Fair Trade then it will have to change its fundamental ideas from globalisation, to localisation and national food sovereignty. 3 -- The NFU must frame Fair Trade as Economic Justice It would be wrong if it framed Fair Trade as some kind of appeal to charity. British farming is not a charity, it is an essential part of our country. The Fair Trade movement taps into people's sense of economic justice. People buy Fair Trade because they want to do what is right for the developing world and they want to support a fair and just economic system. The same dynamic could easily apply towards British produce. It would reflect an attitude to living, to politics even, which locates British farming and growing within a wider national and global context, where the consumer is keen to do what is economically just, and where the consumer is able to use ethical purchasing as a direct means of challenging economic globalisation. Fair Trade in the UK needs to be framed in that positive, visionary, revolutionary sense, located within the wider struggle against globalisation and for economic and food sovereignty. Ethical purchasing is part of a revolutionary attitude towards life which is seeking to create, to build, to bring forth, to give life to a positive vision of a localised economic world which stands as an alternative to the faceless and economic imperialistic globalisation of today. This is an attitude to life which is about growing and building, not about dying and collapsing. This is a struggle which is not about compassion, but about solidarity, not about charity but about justice. Imagine an NFU which made a stand for economic localisation and for food sovereignty nationally and globally, and based all its philosophy and policies upon those two legs. It would be very attractive across the political and social spectrum and it could be a leader in social, economic and cultural change for the better. It could have huge appeal. It is uniquely suited to lead debate in this area. It needs to embrace the concept of Fair Trade for UK Farmers.
Fairtrade Fortnight was on 6-19
March 2006 www.fairtrade.org.uk
|
how fair is fair trade ,peoples comments
RECYCLING TEXTILES HOW IT GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE
Textile recycling information sheet
why bother? | what you can do |
how's, what's and where's of recycling textiles | useful contacts |
Textile recycling originated in the Yorkshire Dales about 200 years ago. These days the 'rag and bone' men are textile reclamation businesses, which collect textiles for reuse (often abroad), and send material to the 'wiping' and 'flocking' industry and fibres to be reclaimed to make new garments. Textiles made from both natural and man-made fibres can be recycled.
Why bother?
top of page It is estimated that more than 1 million tonnes of textiles are thrown away every year, with most of this coming from household sources. Textiles make up about 3% by weight of a household bin. At least 50% of the textiles we throw away are recyclable, however, the proportion of textile wastes reused or recycled annually in the UK is only around 25%.Although the majority of textile waste originates from household sources, waste textiles also arise during yarn and fabric manufacture, garment-making processes and from the retail industry. These are termed post-industrial waste, as opposed to the post-consumer waste which goes to jumble sales and charity shops. Together they provide a vast potential for recovery and recycling.
Recovery and recycling provide both environmental and economic benefits. Textile recovery:
- Reduces the need for landfill space. Textiles present particular problems in landfill as synthetic (man-made fibres) products will not decompose, while woollen garments do decompose and produce methane, which contributes to global warming.
- Reduces pressure on virgin resources.
- Aids the balance of payments as we import fewer materials for our needs.
- Results in less pollution and energy savings, as fibres do not have to be transported from abroad.
If everyone in the UK bought one reclaimed woollen garment each year, it would save an average of 371 million gallons of water (the average UK reservoir holds about 300 million gallons) and 480 tonnes of chemical dyestuffs. (Evergreen)
- Savings on energy consumption when processing, as items do not need to be re-dyed or scoured.
- Less effluent, as unlike raw wool, it does not have to be thoroughly washed using large volumes of water.
- Reduction of demand for dyes and fixing agents and the problems caused by their use and manufacture.
How's, what's and where's of recycling textiles
top of page The majority of post-consumer textiles are currently collected by charities like The Salvation Army, Scope and Oxfam. Some charities, for example Oxfam and The Salvation Army, sort collected material selling it on to merchants in the appropriate sectors.Over 70% of the world's population use second hand clothes.(Textiles on line)
Collection Methods
At present the consumer has the option of putting textiles in 'clothes banks', taking them to charity shops or having them picked up for a jumble sale.Recyclatex, a scheme run by the Textile Recycling Association in conjunction with local authorities and charities, provides textile banks for public use. The Salvation Army, Scope, and Oxfam also use a bank scheme in conjunction with other methods. Scope, for example, runs a national door-to-door textile collection service. There are about 3,000 textile banks nationwide, but clothes banks are only operating at about 25% capacity.
The Salvation Army is the largest operator of textile banks in the UK, with over 2,000 banks nationwide. On average, each of these banks is estimated to collect about six tonnes of textiles per year. Combined with door-to-door collections, The Salvation Army's textile recycling operations account for the processing of in excess of 17,000 tonnes of clothing a year. Clothes are given to the homeless, sold in charity shops or sold in developing countries in Africa, the Indian sub-continent and parts of Eastern Europe. Nearly 70% of items put into clothing banks are reused as clothes, and any un-wearable items are sold to merchants to be recycled and used as factory wiping cloths.
The average lifetime of a garment is about three years. (textiles on line)
The European Recycling Company Limited operates a network of collecting points for second-hand shoes, most of which are re-usable. The shoes are sorted according to their condition and then sold into developing countries, where they are locally reconditioned and resold at affordable prices in those areas. A pilot research study is being carried out in Germany to create techniques for reprocessing excess shoe materials into alternative products, such as sound insulation board.
Processing and Outlets for Waste Textiles
All collected textiles are sorted and graded by highly skilled, experienced workers, who are able to recognise the large variety of fibre types resulting from the introduction of synthetics and blended fibre fabrics. Once sorted the items are sent to various destinations as outlined below:
WEARABLE TEXTILES
| |
SHOES
Resold abroad in countries like Pakistan, India, Africa and East European countries. |
CLOTHES
Resold in the U.K. and abroad. Oxfam's Wastesaver provides clothes to Mozambique, Malawi or Angola for emergency use, as well as providing warm winter clothing to former Yugoslavia, Albania, Afghanistan and Northern Iraq. |
UNWEARABLE TEXTILES
| ||
TROUSERS, SKIRTS, ETC.Sold to the 'flocking'
industry. Items are shredded for fillers in car insulation, roofing felts,
loudspeaker cones, panel linings, furniture padding etc.
|
WOOLLEN GARMENTSSold to specialist firms for
fibre reclamation to make yarn or fabric.
|
COTTON AND SILKSorted into grades to make
wiping cloths for a range of industries from automotive to mining, and for use
in paper manufacture.
|
Post industrial waste is often reprocessed in house. Clippings from garment manufacture are also used by fibre reclaimers to make into garments, felt and blankets.
Some items will be reused by designers fashioning garments and bags from recovered items, however this is a very small sector within the overall destinations of textiles.
The Fibre Reclamation Process
Mills grade incoming material into type and colour. The colour sorting means no re-dying has to take place, saving energy and pollutants. Initially the material is shredded into 'shoddy' (fibres). Depending on the end uses of the yarn e.g. a rug, other fibres are chosen to be blended with the shoddy. The blended mixture is carded to clean and mix the fibres, and spun ready for weaving or knitting.The Recycling Scene
Evergreen produces yarns and fabrics from recycled fibres. Their most successful products are inblends spun from English and Chinese hemp and recycled denim, in addition to other recycled fibre blends containing wool, cashmere, silk and PET (polyester made from post-consumer recycled plastic drinks bottles and tencel, a fibre made from wool).The reuse of clothes is promoting a new breed of designer. NoLoGo are a team of volunteer designers set up by Oxfam who restyle donated garments and fabrics, selling them on at some Oxfam shops.
The Recycled Products Guide has details of products made from recycled textiles. Available at www.recycledproducts.org.uk
What You Can Do
top of page- Take your used clothes to a textile bank. Contact the recycling officer in your local authority if there are no banks in your area and ask why; they may collect textiles through other means. Alternatively you can take used clothing to local charity shops.
- Give old clothes/shoes/curtains/handbags etc. to jumble sales. Remember to tie shoes together: part of the 6% of textiles which is wastage for merchants are single shoes.
- Buy second-hand clothes - you can often pick up unusual period pieces! If bought from a charity shop, it will also benefit a charity.
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