Design Your Own- Green, Greener, and Greenest
Eliza
University of Alabama
PGC Day 30
Overview
Welcome to Day 16: Nifty Thrifty.
As you know, sustainability affects many areas of eco-conscious
thinking, including textiles and clothing. American spends millions of
dollars every year on new clothing—and that’s not counting
production costs and waste (both economical and environmental). In
fact, 11 million tons of textiles are trashed every year. Think of all that
waste! Today we want you to take a look at your own closet and start
thinking about how you can cut your textile waste and contribute to the
solution!
(Think your part barely matters? Well, what if we told you that the
average American trashes almost sixty-five pounds of textiles a year?
Yep, one person can have a pretty sizable dent.)
Use your dent for good!
Jumpstart Resources
Cause for Concern--National Clothing Economy:
Not-so-fun Fact:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/MadeInAmerica/madeamerica-clothes-clothing-made-
-ABC News estimates that 98%
usa/story?id=13108258#.UJBQRKk1bFI
of clothes we wear are not
made in America.
YIKES! Think of the production
and transportation costs!
Company That’s All About Recycling Textiles:
http://www.smartasn.org/about/index.cfm
Eco-benefits to Thrift Store Shopping:
http://www.hellawella.com/save-the-environment-by-thrift-storeshopping/5592
According to the EPA:
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/textiles.htm
The Monster of Consumerism: (The Story of Stuff)
http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/
Video of the Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U2HBoFVFg0
Green: Redemption (10 points)
Think: Okay, so we seem to have a cycle of problems here. Most of our
clothes are manufactured overseas. This isn’t great for our economy.
We don’t control quality from across the world during production, so we often end
up with poor quality clothes that don’t satisfy us. The style changes and we discard
those old clothes and buy the new trend, only to face more disappointment. As you
may know, buying sustainably manufactured clothing is very important. But it’s also
very expensive, and you’re a teen on a budget. So why don’t we REDEEM the
clothing that’s already circulating around us?
Quick resource:
http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2011/12/thrift-shopping-benefits/
Do:
-Do some research and define five terms that relate to textile consumption. Example:
consumption/upcycle.
-Now use the resources provided and others to find two negative effects/production
costs of buying new clothing and three benefits of buying secondhand.
-Include an enlightening infographic chart that you find along your journey.
-Lastly, include your own definition of “redeem” as it relates to reusing clothes.
Make it creative!
-Upload your challenge in a Word Document.
Greener: Exploration (20 points)
Think: You may feel discouraged by our aggression
consumption rate. And rightly so—it’s pretty
discouraging! But there is good news. All across the
world, eco-conscious people are bothered by the same
saddening statistics that you are! Some of these people have created
organizations that promote recycling and reusing. What organizations are out
there anyway? Any way you can get involved?
Do: Find three organizations (one in your area) that sell used clothes or
promote sustainability in the textile industry. Include a description of each along
with a link to the website. Also invent a company. That’s right, you make one
up. In your presentation, discuss your company’s ideals, area of impact, what
you do, where you are based, and how you promote reuse of clothing. This
could look like anything from a local vintage thrift shop to a costume rental and
reuse center to a scholarship program that gives scholarships to college
students for exemplifying extremely thrifty reuse habits. Hey, it’s your
company so be creative!
Greenest: Action (30 points)
Think: Thrift stores are for more than just shopping for
Halloween costumes. Since you now know quite a bit about how great
buying secondhand can be for your budget and for the earth, you’re ready to
put what you’ve learned into action!
Do: Travel (walk, bike, or carpool if you can) to a local thrift store and put
together an outfit from head to toe for less than 10 dollars. You aren’t
required to buy the outfit, but you are encouraged to! Upload pictures of the
items you select in a Word document along with the brand, price, and
estimated original price. Organize the pros and cons of original products vs.
the secondhand products in a visually appealing comparison chart. Upload
your submission in a Word Document.
Extra Credit: Promotion
Extra Credit
Think: Thrift stores are awesome,
and some people are missing out
on all local secondhand stores have to offer because they are too proud or
overly concerned about dirtiness. Well, when it comes to consumer waste, the
dirtiness (dust, disorganization) of secondhand items is nothing compared to
the impact textile waste causes to the earth. This waste sits in our ground,
leeches into our groundwater and pollutes our air! Gross. Secondhand
shopping is a much better idea, and it’s time to let others know!
Do: This challenge is all about relating what you’ve learned today to those
around you.
-Organize a nifty thrifty event at your school.
-Include clothing items from a local thrift store to be displayed, worn, or given
away at the presentation.
-Photograph or video the event and upload your media to a Word document
as well as posting it on your social media page and ours.
-Make sure to include in your presentation how many people attended and
their feedback from the event.
-Provide us with a game plan for the meeting.
-Remember: A well-rounded presentation should incorporate visuals and facts
that cause the participants to rethink their conventional style habits.
-Be creative and have fun!
One outstanding extra credit submission will receive a $100 Ebay Green gift
card.
Sponsors: Ebay Green (corporation)
Goodwill (non-profit)
Earth911.org (media partner)
Prizes: (Greener) $10 EBay Green Gift card, Zkano organic socks, reuseit
workhorse original, Bluesign fabric reusable bag from reuseit.com,
Nature’s Path Granola Bars (MYSTERY FLAVOR)
Prizes: (Greenest) $30 EBay Green Gift card, Zkano organic socks, round
date leaf basket from The Container Store, coupon for organ underwear
from Gaiam, Nature’s Path Granola Bars (MYSTERY FLAVOR)
More Resources:
http://www.ecouterre.com
http://www.ecofabulous.com
The Ultimate Consignment and Thrift Store Guide.
by Carolyn Schneider
Sustainable Fashion: Why Now?...
By Janet Hethorn
Ten Tips To Thrift-ify Treasured Textiles!
1. Oh, you stained your collared shirt
beyond redemption? Cut off the
sleeves at the elbow and use the
cuffs as dresses for your little
sibling’s stuffed animals. Just cut
some armholes and BOOM (yep,
I’ve done that.)
2. Weave old t-shirts into braided
Toss
Them
headbands (see Pinterest boards
everywhere)
3. Donate to a local thrift store—duh!
4. When clothing wears too thin, add them to a scrap pile. When
the pile fills up, sew scraps into a lightweight, colorful, summer
bathrobe.
5. Hand-me-downs. We all had that strange cousin growing up
who was a size larger than you for a good 7 years and
handed down all her weird clothes to you. But hand-medowns are not always something to grumble about! You can
get some great clothes from family members: you just have to
look around. The greatest part of hand-me-downs: Chances
are, by the time you grow into the clothes, they will be back in
style!
6. Tie fabric straps from old clothes into a string of lights: hang
and enjoy the colors!
7. Use old tattered clothes as padding for your pet’s favorite
lounge spot.
8. Upcycle fabric into an oven mitt to use as you prepare your
gourmet sustainable food selections!
9. Cut old clothes into tiny shreds and sew other shirts around it
to create a comfy pillow! There’s nothing like the familiarity
of the smell of your own clothes—now you can sleep on
them!
10. So you stained a shirt. Buy an apron pattern and sew an old
shirt into a new smock. Let the staining thrive!
(Brought to you by Eliza Sheffield’s mind: not from an
online source!)
Now for a brief inspirational photo
from your host.
I got this cute gold-buttonshouldered sweater at a thrift store
just yesterday. It cost me $3! It’s
also Ralph Lauren! I don’t shop for
name brands, but sometimes I end
up with some. I’m pretty excited that this is red and black: perfect
for Gamedays at Bama! Roll Tide!
Reflection
It was really hard to zoom in on just one issue. When designing this
challenge, I saw in a new way how much the different areas of
sustainability overlap and cross with each other. I chose to focus on
limiting our waste in the textile realm because visiting thrift stores is
a cause near and dear to my heart. (Not to brag or anything
but….I’m known as Thrift Master in some circles, probably because
I got a prom dress at a thrift store for $5 once! True story, y’all!) I
know some people think thrift stores are dirty, and some are. But
clothes can be washed! As I mentioned in one of the challenges,
secondhand clothes are way dirtier when they are tossed into the
ground than when we reuse them. There’s a certain humility that
can be gained from shopping at thrift stores that I think is very
valuable to how we treat each other. Also, the prices are great, and
most thrift stores benefit local charities. Once you figure out that
style is cyclical, there is barely any reason to shop new again!
(Underwear I must exclude from this. Go organic on that one.)
Okay, this is pretty sad, but I had never used the resource page
before because I didn’t know it existed! That would have been
very helpful for my previous challenges, and it’s too bad I missed
out on this opportunity as I was doing the challenges. I’ve started
looking through that today, and I’ve already found some really
cool resources! Today was about creating a learning experience for
someone else, but I have learned so much myself. As one of my
teachers is fond of saying, “You don’t truly understand a concept
until you can clearly explain it to someone else.”