4. Design to reduce Energy & Water use

After being inspired by Anke Domaske's Qmilch designs, I have started to explore more companies that plan on targeting water and energy consumption. Most water consumption is used in the production stages with dying and washing garments to make them ready for sales. however, I feel that designers need to source the most energy efficient and natural/organic materials as they can to ensure that when they are passed onto the consumer they too will treat the garments in the kindest way. The best way for them to reduce the environmental impact is during the design stages especially when 60% of the total energy consumption in the life-cycle of a t-shirt occurs in the use phase; i.e. washing, ironing, drying.

In order to reduce energy and water use we need to source our materials locally and cut down in the amount of mordant dying, exhaust and digital printing.

Levi Strauss & Co have already begun to examine their work ethics and have produced a life-cycle of their most popular 501 jeans to see how much water is used in the process. It provides the designer with details on how to make a more sustainable and ecological product.

Levi's LifeCycle of a Jean

1. COTTON PRODUCTION - As 95% of their products are made from cotton, Levi looks to source sustainable cotton by working with The Better Cotton Initiative to ensure their cotton is not damaging to the environment.

2. FABRIC PRODUCTION - Textile mills turn the fibres into fabric with the help of NRDC's Sourcing Initiative

3.GARMENT MANUFACTURING - Cut, sew and finishes.

4.TRANSPORT AND DISTRIBUTION - Retail, online and wholesale around the world. Attempt to reduce global carbon footprint by looking at the amount of energy use and greenhouse gas emission records.

5.CONSUMER USE - By line drying Levi jeans and washing them in cold water consumers can almost half the environmental impact and reduce the life-cycle climate.

6.RECYCLING - A care-tag has been produced in the jeans to encourage the consumer to donate their old jeans to Goodwill rather than adding to the 23.8 billion pounds that ends in landfill yearly.

7.END OF LIFE-  In 2009 Levi added recycled cotton fibres to their Eco jeans and have also begun looking at how denim can be recycled and used for housing insulation.

3. Design to reduce Chemical Impacts

Ted's 3rd strategy focuses on using the appropriate process and material selections. It attempts to cut down on harmful chemical processes such as devore, using chemical dyes, mordants etc and instead using organic., natural dyes and non-chemical decorative procedures e.g. laser cutting.

Each product has a beginning, middle and end and each stage should incorporate environmentally friendly procedures, be it sourcing the yarns ethically, using ecological washing powder or designing without waste.

• The textile industry uses up 25% or all the chemicals used worldwide.
•  20 000 people in developing countries die each year from poisoning by agricultural pesticides.
• A typical conventional cotton t-shirt uses about 150 grams of acutely toxic pesticides and insecticides; that's the size of a cup of sugar. (Soil Association) 

PUMA
Puma aim to produce compostable t-shirts and trainers which would reduce the amount of landfill. They follow William McDonaugh's thesis of 'Cradle to Cradle', that each design should be a cycle and should not end in landfill but continue to replenish and prosper the environment. Not only have we begun recycling our fruit and vegetable peelings but soon we will be able to add our worn-out trainers to the compost heap.

Franz Koch, Puma's boss are 'confident that in the near future we will be able to bring the first shoes, T-shirts and bags, that are either recyclable or compostable, to the market,'. He explained that "It follows two circuits, the technical and the biological: I can use old shoes to make new ones or something completely different, such as car tyres," said Koch, who has led the sports clothing company since July.
"In the biological cycle, I can make shoes and shirts that are compostable so I can shred them and bury them in the back garden. We are working on products that meet these two criteria."
In 2010 Puma unveiled the Clever Little Bag which eradicated the need for shoes to be placed in a bulky, wasteful cardobard box. Instead shoes were placed in a reusable bag made from 65% less paper as well as having a reduced water, energy and diesel consumption.

If Puma succeed in developing recyclable shoes then they could revolutionise the clothing industry.


Anke Domaske - German fashion designer and microbiologist

Domaske has produced organic chemical-free clothing using milk to create the first man-made, industrial-strength fibre at the Hanover-based company Qmilch.
Not only is it environmentally friendly but it has major health benefits; helpign to soothe skin allergies due to the gentle nature of milk. The amino acids in the protein strands are also anti-bacterial, anti-aging (wrinkles will be reduced due to the calming, moisturising content of milk)and can help regulate blood circulation and body temperature.

Known as Qmilch; it can be folded like silk but washed and dried like cotton.

The only downsides to Qmilch is that at $28 per kg, Domaske's fabric is more expensive to produce than organic cotton (40% less). However, qmilch makes sure to use only milk that is left over from other production processes and that cannot be consumed by people. What's more, only 2 litres of water is needed to produce 1kg of fabric in comparison with cotton which needs more than 10,000 litres of water per kg. I think they are on to a winning formula especially if they use local production resources and manage to sell their idea onto major industries. The hospital market would surely benefit from hypoallergenic fabrics! 

Where can i sign up for this relaxing treat?

SO, WHAT SHOULD OUR CLOTHES BE MADE OF?

Lucy Siegle has been researching which materials are eco-friendly and which are not:
She states:

• An average cotton T-shirt requires 500 litres of water and 40g of pesticides to make, plus carcinogenic chemicals used in the finishing process. Globally, cotton production accounts for the use of 22% of all agricultural insecticides (about $2.5bn worth).
• Nylon is reckoned to be responsible for 50 per cent of UK emissions of nitrous oxide (a poisonous greenhouse gas) 
• Polyester is derived from petrochemicals.

2. Design for Recycling/Upcycling

UPCYCLING: The process of converting waste materials or useless products into new products of better quality or a higher environmental value (economic, intellectual, emotional or material).  to a product through the process of re-using it.
Taking an item that is old and worn or just plain ordinary and giving it a new lease of life is incredibly beneficial to the environment. All of these scrap fabrics are still functional, still beautiful, still useable so why don't we do something about it.


Livia Firth is a huge advocate for eco fashion; she is the 'green queen' of the red carpet showcasing the most ethical fashion and textile designers. Not only does she walk down the aisle with husband Colin Firth but she seizes his suits soon after he's worn them and with the help of Junky Styling turns them into beautiful garments. Preaching "Quite rightly fashion has attracted attention over labour rights and its environmental footprint, but there are also some amazing skilled designers with a stunning aesthetic and vision, but who also prioritise the environment and social justice. I wanted to help give them a platform'.
I have since began researching her clothes' sources in the hopes of discovering how to wear sustainable fashion.


junkystyling.com
Inspired by the recycling in San Francisco and Tokyo, and the resourcefulness in Vietnam and Thailand, designers Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager began collecting high quality second hand clothing to deconstruct and re manufacture. Each garment is one of a kind and customers are able to bring their clothes for a makeover at their 'Wardrobe Surgery' service. 

fashionCompassion.com
An ethical fashion retailer working with socially responsible luxury brands from the developing world. incorporating and adhering to FairTrade practices. 

fromsomewhere.co.uk - Orsolo de Castro and Filippo Ricci 

fromsomewhere s/s12 

Fromsomewhere uses luxury designer pre-consumer waste (proofs, swatches, offcuts, end of rolls) and upcycles them turning them into high fashion pieces. When a designer cuts out their pattern pieces their is a huge amount of waste fabric most often from a beautiful roll of decorative silk. Why do we then waste these scraps of material when such time and effort has gone into creating its design? Fromsomewhere successfully reclaims these scrap materials destined for the trash/landfills and produces unique pieces that balance consumption and disposal. They successfully combine the modern design and demand approach alongside the customer's need to be fashionable with desirable, affordable pieces. 

I love the playful and retro look of their collections and the simplicity in combining the found materials. They cleverly co-ordinate the colours and fabric swatches so the designs look effortless and clean rather than haphazardly thrown together as you would expect from dissimilar fabrics. With the recession hitting hard around I feel everyone should take a leaf out of fromsomewhere's book and instead of turning to cheap materials in order to sell more, should source high quality materials and patchwork them together.


Even Tesco's Florence & Fred (F&F) range have jumped on the bandwagon, joining forces with fromsomewhere creating a 6 piece capsule collection that is made from end of line stock.

This technique reduces the amount of pollution standard industrial recycling puts into the environment and re-values original and unnoticed materials. Textile surplus is no longer waste!

Another inspirational designer is Stephanie Nieuwenheys who uses leftover wood chips on the floor of her university to make a garment that is not only visually appealing but environmentally friendly. It shows that we students can also begin to design ethically and ecologically!

1. Design to Minimise Waste

Everyone is responsible for damaging the environment, whether it's personal, environmental, social or economic - all impacts are responsible. One thing we can target is the amount of waste produced as that is wholly man-made and thus completely changeable.

STEP 1: Design to Minimise Waste

'Of the total textile fibre produces, up to 65% is lost, post consumer to landfill, incineration or composting which represents between 400 000 & 700 000 tonnes per annum in the UK. Of this at least 50% is recyclable' (Alwood, 06)

ISSEY MIYAKE- Zero Waste Cutting

Waste occurs not just at the manufacturing stage but also at the design stage. Thus designers ought to minimise waste from the outset. I particularly like Issey Miyake's APOC principle where he  uses one single thread to begin and end a final garment. Made using an industrial knitting/weaving machine, Miyake creates continuous tubes of fabric with tops, skirts, shirts, trousers all designed in such a sequence that a piece of clothing can physically be cut out from the strip leaving no surrounding waste fabric. It is an extremely successful technique as it not only minimises waste but also allows the customer to participate in the design process. There are no waste scraps of fabric as each design is all inclusive. Computer aided design is a much easier and faster process to ensure waste is reduce. 

SHAUN SAMSON

Shaun Samson uses an exquisite needle punch felt technique that combines two different pieces of material without the need thread/material or joining devices. He uses a seamless fabric manipulation that fuses together chunky knitwear, denim and wool. The fuzzy fibres of the knit effortlessly fuse with the linen to make a clean join that appears like magic. Experimentation has allowed Samson to create fabrics that co-exist rather than lie on top of each other. There is no chemical impact or left over fabrics for if you can fuse together materials with this embroidery like technique then soon there ought to be no left-over scraps.

 Close up of needle punching felt technique

 

There are many designers that use disposable fashion to counteract waste minimisation. They create garments out of recyclable paper that are made to be worn once and then discarded. REBECCA COLE MARSHALL has attempted to combat the mass production market by producing these one off wonders however I feel if clothes are to be bought they should be bought to last. Short-life garments do however have great appeal to the public as it allows for a quick turnover and works well alongside the fast paced fashion industry. Consumers don't want to wear the same thing permanently thus this method allows them to buy one item and then wear it once. however I feel this encourages waste and we ought to be able to design garments that satisfy the consumer enough to keep it. As Vivienne Westwood says 'BUY LESS, CHOOSE WELL, DO IT YOURSELF' . Her biggest annoyance i that people over wash their clothes making them look cheap and slob like, instead we ought to rub talcum powder under the armholes of a t-shirt or simply wash the cuffs of a long t-shirt. 

Vivienne Westwood talks Eco Friendly Fashion

WOOLRICH & AGION

Woolrich who supported Shaun Samson in resourcing woollens and materials have teamed up with Agion- a leader in odour fighting, to combine a piece of outerwear that eliminates frequent laundering, This nano-technology means that the jacket need never be washed thus reducing the amount of water energy. The garment features a 'one-two punch of antimicrobial protection and industrial strength odour elimination, both on and around the fabric'

What's even more exciting is that if Woolrich & Agion join forces with Safe@Sea then they could have their first odourless/repairable garment. Scandinavian researchers have discovered a self-healing effect in the form of plastic polyurethane which is applied in liquid form to a fabric surface and allowed to harden in the presence of air and water. This means that if there was to be a small tear in the garment the micro-capsules that contain the glue-like substance will burst sealing the holes and becoming almost as good as new.  

RECAP

AWARENESS


If 'decisions made in design are responsible for eighty to ninety percent of a product's environmental and economic costs' (Graedel et al. 1995) what are designers meant to do about this?

TED's 10

1. Design to Minimise Waste
2. Design for Recycling/Upcycling
3. Design to Reduce Chemical Impacts
4.  Design to Reduce Energy & Water use
5. Design that explores Cleaner/Better Technologies
6. Design that Looks at Models from Nature & history
7. Design to Replace the Need to Consume
8. Design for Ethical Production
9. Design to Dematerialise & Develop Systems/Services
10. Design Activism

Humans have not only prospered and created fantastic technology they have also damaged and depleted many of the world's resources. We are using up more than we can produce. Must reduce human's ecological footprint! Need to not be limited by what we can use but use resources cleverly and considerately. Consider design strategies for change and how inspiring designers have begun to target the growing global, economic and environmental waste.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

1. People first and from the heart

2. Aesthetics/beauty - needs to be attractive and sustainable

3. Innovation for sustainability - is not limiting

We need to create things that aren't wasteful; that put back into the universe what we take out...