'I'm Not a Plastic Bag'

In a consumer world, it can be difficult to keep up with fads and fashions. People can change their wardroom multiple times a year, which adds up over a very short period of time. This leaves people with too many clothes, adding to the over consumption of materials that could be used towards more than just a shirt someone will wear twice before discarding simply because a celebrity or designer tells them what’s hot and new. As well, with the continuing rate that we use plastic, there is so much waste by using plastic bags when doing the groceries or shopping. Both fashion and the constant use of plastic bags are closely linked, and add up to the over consumption of resources. With those things in mind, there is a huge prospect for fashion helping to cut down the use of plastic bags. Take for instance Anya Hindmarch who created a bag which spawned a phenomenon that brought a green item to the forefront of fashion. Hindmarch, a prominent British designer, created a tote bag in 2007 with the words “I’m not a plastic bag” on them, to raise awareness for the over consumption of plastic used in making shopping bags. Not only was it meant to be eco-friendly, but affordable at £5, wildly cheap for a high-fashion designer to price their products. It was originally created as a limited addition for Hindmarch boutiques, as well as a few other locations. In one location 80, 000 people waited in line to purchase one on the first day of sales, a record for something as simple as a bag to put your groceries into. Due to this wild success, other colours were created and the ability to purchase these totes became available in other countries. This really sparked others to create things with a much more green message, and has been gaining momentum ever since. There is a huge market for reusable bags now, ranging from simple canvas ones to more classy patterned or ones made from more eco-friendly material such as hemp. There are very few grocery stores now that don’t offer their own reusable bags or charge extra money if you would like plastic bags. Another thing to with reusable bag is that retro is back in, making everyone keen on going out to second hand stores and creating new pieces from old materials. It doesn’t take much skill to sew your own reusable shopping bag, which also gives people the option to be more creative and use something as simple as a bag to take your groceries home in, into a creative outlet that shows off who you are. This is a great way to reduce and recycle materials in a positive way, getting people more interested in making one-of-a-kind pieces as well as being conscious that they are not using fresh materials. As well, this has sparked many different grocery stores into offering reusable bags, and charges on the plastic bags people use if they don’t have reusable ones. By using the trickle down theory, the theory that high fashion will become popular and begin to filter down to influence more affordable sources, to promote something good for the planet, there’s no telling what could be achieved simply by making more green products fashionable.

Eco-Friendly Fashion Show

Watch what some designers have already achieved in this Eco - Friendly Fashion Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlmKmhwS6v8&feature=related

Travel Mugs

Travel mugs and thermoses are the latest trend in the greening of the earth movement. These accessories come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes to match every outfit. They are fairly affordable and customizable. They are being lifted to a level of aristocracy, where owning one of these shows you care about the environment and are a part of the greening movement which is quickly becoming an international trend among celebrities and the average Joe alike. All of this and they are designed to keep your beverage hot or cold for a superior length of time than the paper cousins.

Millions of North Americans begin their day by going down to the local coffee shop for a fresh cup. But along with that coffee comes a Styrofoam or paper cup that, once used, is quickly thrown away, where it is collected by the large polluting trucks that move them to a large garbage landfill where these cups will then decay and release more carbon dioxide into the air. North America alone uses 60% of the world’s paper cups, 130 billion as of 2006, which meant 50 million trees which were pulped for their construction and 33 billion gallons of water (Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator). However, now there is a solution - travel mugs or reusable coffee cups. These handy hot and cold containers are the latest fashion accessory.

These travel mugs and reusable coffee cups are a great alternative to the disposable kind. Just as convenient without the waste. And soon they may be more affordable as well. As a maneuver to reduce the amount of waste that the city of Toronto must pay to ship to their landfill the city has been trying to pass legislation to add incentive to the lug a mug program, including getting coffee shops to give discounts when you bring your own mug, charging extra for the convenience of using the disposable cups and also making it illegal to sell paper cups with the plastic lids. All of this is theoretical legislation, but has great potential for reducing the amount of disposable coffee cups which can be found in majority of litter bins within Toronto, approximately a million a day, (Toronto Star).

In recent years water is becoming more and more the beverage of choice for people. Its health benefits and relatively inexpensiveness make it ideal for people of all walks of life. Thirty years ago bottled water was hardly a business, but now it is everywhere. Bottles of water come with us on the bus, in the office and on our nightstands. 15 billions dollars are being spent on bottled water in 2007. 2008 is estimated at being as high as 16 billion dollars, (Fast Company.) Billions of dollars are being spent on bottled water, and 24% of the bottled water is merely repackaged tap water.

Plastic water bottles have also been connected to diseases and chemicals. The water bottles are made of a hard plastic that will break down in the universal solvent, water, which then leaks those chemicals into the liquids in the bottle. This process is sped up when the bottles are heated, or frozen. One such chemical is bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA mimics estrogen, the female hormone, which has been shown to cause defective cell division, as well as other reproductive and developmental issues, prostate cancer in men, breast cancer in women and may even be linked to Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Due to environmental health groups the BPA was declared toxic under the Canadian Environmental Act (CEPA). This is just one instance, one chemical associated with theses plastic bottles, (Labour Environmental Alliance Society.) Reuseable water bottles are the preferred option if you choose to carry water with you. Stainless steel water bottles are best such as those from KleenKanteen and such. These do not leek chemical into the water source are easy to clean and very durable. Some even come with lifetime guarantee. Aluminum is also an option, but be wary of the epoxy resin lining which has also been shown to leak chemicals. If you want to use plastic, the safest are high density polyethylene (HDPE) identified as 2 on the bottom of the bottles. Low density polyethylene 4 and polupropylene 5 are also safer.

Where to get one of these:
The reusable water bottles can be purchased at lots of locations such as Chapters, Kitchen Stuff Plus, West 49, and many sporting goods stores for as little as $8. Hot beverage travel mugs can be purchased at nearly any coffee shop, including Starbucks, Second Cup, Tim Hortons, as well as most department stores.

Making the Old New Again

Clothing recycling comes in many different forms, whether it be traditions of hand-me-downs, clothing donations to organizations such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army, or the re-making of old, worn out, or unfitting clothing into new fashionable garments.

In recent years used clothing has come into the spotlight with the blossoming trend of vintage clothing, making the clothes found in attic trunks and thrift stores alike into potential heaps of fashion gold.

Historically, giving clothing a second life has been fairly common across many cultures, including the re-use of textiles by means of cutting down dresses that have gone out of style and using them to make children’s clothing, quilts, and other garments. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, recycling clothing was a way for people less financially well-off to acquire finer fabrics, and in the upper class was spurred by the desire to have exotic garments from other parts of the world, the obtaining of which signified wealth and status (Palmer & Clark, pg 2). Today we live in a capitalist society where the production of new garments and styles far surpasses the needs of the people, and this capitalism combined with the dominant ideology instills in citizens the need for obtaining the latest fashions as a status symbol. Because of this, clothing is discarded far before its functional time is up, allowing it to move to another group or class where they are regarded as riches because they offer access to style and change.
Used clothing has also been viewed in a negative light, being rumored as linked to the spreading of diseases such as SARS, ringworms, skin infections, etc. by wearing used clothing that has not been washed (Palmer & Clark, pg 3) and in some East Asian cultures clothing is thought to hold the spirit of the deceased which is honored by keeping a “tactile memento mori” (Palmer & Clark, pg 3).

High fashion designers began in the 1980s to look at used clothing in a new light and started creating avant guard pieces by reconstructing used items. This vintage feel to high fashion clothing is what inspired Western culture to embrace vintage style which has become popular in all different classes and can be embraced within all budgets. Vintage style is achieved through thrift store shopping for a more economical style and has also been taken up by boutique shops that provide vintage finds in concentrated amounts, eliminating the hunt, as well as new clothing that are made to look like vintage items.

Recycling clothing and creating new styles from old items is the focus of this part of our project and it looks at ways anyone can create lovely, functional, and fashionable articles out of items that are no longer of use to them. Everyone has clothing that they have outgrown, that is damaged/ worn out, or that is no longer considered fashionable, and what we would like to show is how these items can be brought back to life in new ways rather than being destined for the trash can, saving both the environment and money in the process.
This mode of reconstructing clothing is especially helpful for students and young people on a budget who are tired of their old clothing but cannot afford new items. Anyone can take an old t-shirt and create a number of different things out of it, including a new shirt, tote bag, apron, laptop case, and many other items. An old sweater can be felted and made into mittens, scarves, pillows, stuffed animals, hats, pincushions (shaped like other objects, teacups for example), and anything else you can think of. One doesn’t even need to be an expert sewer in order to create these items, only the knowledge of how to do a basic stitch by hand is needed.

Simple steps on how to felt a sweater:
*This works best with 100% wool sweaters
1. Take any sweaters that are no longer of use to you and put them in the washing machine
2. Set the machine on hot wash and cold rinse so that the fibers of the sweater bind together from the heat, using only about a tablespoon of washing detergent.
3. Add in a pair of jeans to increase the agitation during the wash, which helps to bind the fibers together.
4. Lie flat to dry
5. Cut sweater apart at the seams (take the arms off and flatten them, cut up the sides to detach the front and back from each other).
6. Get creative!

Useful and Insightful Links:
1. Jurkola, Johanna M. (2003) Treading lightly on the environment: Using Second World War fabric saving and clothing reuse techniques to inform contemporary women's clothing design. M.Sc. dissertation, University of Alberta (Canada), Canada. Retrieved February 2, 2009, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text database. (Publication No. AAT MQ87792).

2. Clark, Hazel & Alexandra Palmer. Old Clothes, New Looks. Berg Publishers.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=ZIYAqj5maDUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Recycled+Clothing

3.http://www.marthastewart.com (for lots of crafty ways to re-work old clothes eg. teacup pincushions, sweater mittens, etc)

This month's featured eco-friendly designer is Ecogear!

Ecogear is a fantastic eco-friendly company that takes care of green living from clothing to jewelery to home furnishings! All eco-friendly style! Their founding principle is based on the belief that if we hope to preserve this blue planet of ours, that it will be up to you and me to make a difference today. We agree with them 100% when they state that every move we make leaves a lasting impact on our fragile environment, and it's time to take responsibility for our actions and lighten our footsteps!

Their only rule when making products: To use only what’s needed to create an absolutely green alternative that will leave the lightest of impressions on mother earth.

And not only do these people talk the talk but they have true ethical and eco-friendly products to push their cause (AND everything is produced locally)! Just check out their bamboo furniture or recycled clothing made from discarded cotton factory clipping and PET bottles on their website: http://www.eco-gear.ca/!

According to their charismatic owner Robert; the EcoFabric is made by taking the leftover from clothing factories. Then the cuttings are sorted into colors and shades. The EcoFabric gets its color from the dyed fabrics and no extra colors/dyes or bleach is added to it. These cuttings are then cut to a point where they are fine enough to be attached to a continuous strand of polyester and spun into a new yarn. The polyester yarn itself is made from recycled plastics, making this fabric a truly 100% recycled product.

On their website they even provided a further breakdown of what goes into their clothing:

• 65% recycled cotton from pre-consumer clippings from t-shirt factories.
• 35% polyester from recycled plastics.
• Iron on label that is non PVC based, solvent and lead free.
  Hangtag made from recycled paper and printed with organic inks.
• Graphics, if present on the item you purchased, use water based inks that are free of PVC and phthalates.

Sewing threads are new polyester. *
Button, if present on the item you purchased, are melamine. *

Just when you thought things were too good to be true; they also support reputable causes! So when you purchase something from Ecogear, your dollar goes to a sustainable eco-friendly company AND an environmental organization helping to save our planet!

Here are just a few examples of causes they support:

CPAWS: is Canada’s voice for the wilderness. They are working to keep at least half of Canada’s land and water wild-forever.

Environmental Justice Foundation: makes a direct link between the need for environmental security and the defense of basic human rights.

Nature Canada: They aim to conserve and protect Canada's natural diversity of plant and animal species and their environment.

For a more comprehensive list, click here: http://www.eco-gear.ca/ourcauses.html