Living in a Material World GCSE Resource Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Sustaining our future

Living in a Material World Our clothes are getting cheaper, fashion changes more rapidly and we’re buying more and more clothes. At the same time, we hear more about poor working conditions in clothing factories, the environmental effect is becoming more threatening and the UK is facing a crisis in disposing of its waste. What should we do?

What’s the impact to the Environment? Let’s take ONE T Shirt and understand the impact….. Burning of fossil fuels are required to create ….. … we buy them in our shops in Shopping Centres…. T-shirts are made in Far East & India – they are shipped here… Electricity for heating water and air in laundering cloth… Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture.. … also in pre-treatment, dyeing and printing…. Workers earn as little as 0.5% of the final price you pay… … even though we probably have enough already…. Let’s take one T-shirt and see what is involved in its manufacture. electricity for heating water and air in laundering. Other major energy uses are needed to provide fuel for agricultural machinery and electricity for production. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Water consumption – especially the extensive use of water in cotton crop cultivation – can also be a major environmental issue. Every year each person in the UK sends 30Kg of textiles – that is the same as the weight of 30 bags of sugar to the landfill. Fast fashion has meant that we don’t wear-out our clothes but quickly and without thought or attention bin clothes and buy new ones – even though they haven’t been worn to their full potential because they are seen as no longer ‘up-to-date fashionable’. Water consumption is extensive & expensive when growing cotton Other major energy uses Are needed to provide fuel for… Then we bin them, before they have worn out, maybe because they are no longer fashionable, we then go buy a new T shirt!!! We wash them at 60C, tumble dry them and iron them… Agricultural machinery and production. Every year each person in the UK send 30kg of textiles to the landfill

What’s the impact to the Environment? Let’s take ONE T Shirt and understand the impact….. Burning of fossil fuels are required to create ….. Electricity for heating water and air in laundering cloth… Let’s take one T-shirt and see what is involved in its manufacture. electricity for heating water and air in laundering. Other major energy uses are needed to provide fuel for agricultural machinery and electricity for production. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Water consumption – especially the extensive use of water in cotton crop cultivation – can also be a major environmental issue. Every year each person in the UK sends 30Kg of textiles – that is the same as the weight of 30 bags of sugar to the landfill. Fast fashion has meant that we don’t wear-out our clothes but quickly and without thought or attention bin clothes and buy new ones – even though they haven’t been worn to their full potential because they are seen as no longer ‘up-to-date fashionable’. Other major energy uses Are needed to provide fuel for… Agricultural machinery and production.

What’s the impact to the Environment? Let’s take ONE T Shirt and understand the impact….. Toxic chemicals are used widely in Cotton agriculture.. … also in pre-treatment, dyeing and printing…. Workers earn as little as 0.5% of the final price you pay… Let’s take one T-shirt and see what is involved in its manufacture. electricity for heating water and air in laundering. Other major energy uses are needed to provide fuel for agricultural machinery and electricity for production. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Water consumption – especially the extensive use of water in cotton crop cultivation – can also be a major environmental issue. Every year each person in the UK sends 30Kg of textiles – that is the same as the weight of 30 bags of sugar to the landfill. Fast fashion has meant that we don’t wear-out our clothes but quickly and without thought or attention bin clothes and buy new ones – even though they haven’t been worn to their full potential because they are seen as no longer ‘up-to-date fashionable’. Water consumption is extensive & expensive when growing cotton

What’s the impact to the Environment? Let’s take ONE T Shirt and understand the impact….. … we buy them in our shops in Shopping Centres…. T-shirts are made in Far East & India – they are shipped here… … even though we probably have enough already…. Let’s take one T-shirt and see what is involved in its manufacture. electricity for heating water and air in laundering. Other major energy uses are needed to provide fuel for agricultural machinery and electricity for production. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Water consumption – especially the extensive use of water in cotton crop cultivation – can also be a major environmental issue. Every year each person in the UK sends 30Kg of textiles – that is the same as the weight of 30 bags of sugar to the landfill. Fast fashion has meant that we don’t wear-out our clothes but quickly and without thought or attention bin clothes and buy new ones – even though they haven’t been worn to their full potential because they are seen as no longer ‘up-to-date fashionable’. We wash them at 60C, tumble dry them and iron them… WEEK1

What’s the impact to the Environment? Let’s take ONE T Shirt and understand the impact….. Let’s take one T-shirt and see what is involved in its manufacture. electricity for heating water and air in laundering. Other major energy uses are needed to provide fuel for agricultural machinery and electricity for production. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Water consumption – especially the extensive use of water in cotton crop cultivation – can also be a major environmental issue. Every year each person in the UK sends 30Kg of textiles – that is the same as the weight of 30 bags of sugar to the landfill. Fast fashion has meant that we don’t wear-out our clothes but quickly and without thought or attention bin clothes and buy new ones – even though they haven’t been worn to their full potential because they are seen as no longer ‘up-to-date fashionable’. Then we bin them, before they have worn out, maybe because they are no longer fashionable, we then go buy a new T shirt!!!

What’s the impact to the Environment? Let’s take ONE T Shirt and understand the impact….. Let’s take one T-shirt and see what is involved in its manufacture. electricity for heating water and air in laundering. Other major energy uses are needed to provide fuel for agricultural machinery and electricity for production. Toxic chemicals are used widely in cotton agriculture and in many manufacturing stages such as pre-treatment, dyeing and printing. Water consumption – especially the extensive use of water in cotton crop cultivation – can also be a major environmental issue. Every year each person in the UK sends 30Kg of textiles – that is the same as the weight of 30 bags of sugar to the landfill. Fast fashion has meant that we don’t wear-out our clothes but quickly and without thought or attention bin clothes and buy new ones – even though they haven’t been worn to their full potential because they are seen as no longer ‘up-to-date fashionable’. Every year each person in the UK send 30kg of textiles to the landfill WEEK1

What is the impact on the Workers? In UK in 18th & 19th Century we had poor working conditions in textile factories. That work has moved to factories in developing countries where the same happens to the workers. Making clothes takes a lot of effort by workers – they can made up to 15 T-shirts a day Workers get 0.5% of the final cost we pay for an item. Some retailers are looking to change things for the better. Poor working conditions have always been a part of the fashion industry. The owners of the first British textile factories in the 18th and 19th century paid low wages, employed children, forced workers to do overtime and allowed hazardous working conditions. As costs spiraled over the years, factories moved to low-wage, developing countries. In the 1970s it was Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea and today it’s Bangladesh and Indonesia among others. Making clothes is complex Making clothes is a complex task and it’s proved difficult to develop machinery to do it. Today you still need an army of people to machine stitch clothes and produce finished garments in a factory. One person sews the sleeves, another the collar and someone else the pockets. Low pay and unsafe working conditions have not gone away, the problems have simply shifted to developing countries. Paying workers low wages means a factory owner can make clothes more cheaply, so they’re more likely to win a big contract to supply high street chains. Some sewing workshops use children as a source of cheap labour, although this practice is decreasing, according to the Ethical Trading Initiative, an organisation that works to improve conditions for workers. 11p an hour In the developing world, a seven-day working week is common when the pressure’s on to finish an order. And hourly wages in the clothing industry range from 11p an hour in Pakistan, to 43p in China and £5.58 in the USA. Typically, the worker who made the garment will receive as little as 0.5% of the average price the garment sells for. Trade unions are one way of helping workers achieve fair rates of pay and working conditions but unions are often officially or unofficially banned by factory owners. The more progressive UK fashion companies are starting to look seriously at what they can do to improve conditions for the workers who are making their clothes. Buttons from China High street names such as Monsoon, Marks and Spencer and Next are members of the Ethical Trading Initiative, www.ethicaltrade.org. Members agree to a code of practice that covers basic workers' rights. It looks at hours worked, wages, health and safety and child labour. Members work with the factories they use to achieve improvements each year. But one of the challenges that fashion companies cite is monitoring working conditions across a complex supply chain – raw cotton from India may be woven in Bangladesh, while buttons and zips may come from China. It can be difficult to ensure working conditions are fair in factories thousands of miles away. Check the chain Another challenge is that factories can sometimes sub-contract to other companies without the knowledge or approval of the retailer. So a UK high street store may check its main supplier, but not the next level down in the chain. So unfair working practices and low wages continue and every so often, a high street name hits the headlines. The Ethical Trading Initiative encourages members to look at the whole chain and to reach out to particularly vulnerable workers, such as homeworkers. Embroidered clothes and accessories are often made by people who work at home doing 'piece work' – they get paid for each item instead of an hourly wage. Because they work at home they are less visible and often suffer poorer living and working conditions. Campaigning organisations such as Labour Behind the Label want high street stores to go further. For example, instead of paying a minimum wage, Labour Behind the Label wants high street chains to make sure their suppliers pay a living wage – a wage that enables workers to feed, house and educate their families. FROM BBC website

Identify the differences Between these two T-shirts Spot the differences? Black one is made using fair trade principles – the workers get paid a fair price for making this t-shirt. Their conditions and family support means that their lives are of a standard we would like for ourselves – well almost! The blue t-shirt – the worker might have received 0.5% of the final cost to you for this Tshirt – lets say it was £3.00 to buy – they got 15p for the pleasure! Their conditions are unknown but would expect them to be long hours, low pay and poor conditions. Identify the differences Between these two T-shirts Lesson Starter 4

Just your average T-shirt…. Retail UK: £7.00 Wholesale UK: £2.65 Knitted T-shirt China £1.96 Knitted fabric: China £1.08 Cotton yarn USA £0.55

T-Shirts UK Consumers buy around 8 T-shirts per person per year (2004). USA is the largest producer of cotton, government subsidies ensure they receive per KG more than its market rate. The Cotton is processed into yarn in the USA and shipped to China to be made into T shirts. Mainly young women work in the factories – most live in factory dormitories as they come from the country to the city for work instead of getting married. The workers make approx 15 T shirts a day. 25% of the cotton fabric is wastage when making T-shirts.

T-Shirts The UK imported 460 million T shirts in 2004 from China, valued at £3.2 billion. The amount of shipping required to move the T-shirts from China to UK was the same as sending 1 bag of sugar around the World 105 million times!!!

What is recommended to Consumers? Buy second-hand clothing and textiles where possible. Buy fewer more durable garments and textile products. When buying new products, choose those made with least energy and least toxic emissions, made by workers paid a credible living wage with reasonable employment rights and conditions. Lease clothes that would otherwise not be worn to the end of their natural life. Wash clothes less often, at lower temperatures and using eco-detergents, hang-dry them and avoid ironing where possible. Extend the life of clothing and textile products through repair. Dispose of used clothing and textiles through recycling businesses who would return them for second-hand sale wherever possible, but otherwise extract and recycle the yarn or fibres

Designers’ Dilemma… If consumers do reduce the amount of clothes they buy, re-use and recycle more clothes, are conscious of fair trade. What will designers need to do in the future to make their products appealing to this new type of consumer?

7 R’s REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, REPAIR REFUSE RETHINK

7 R’s REDUCE, the amount of the Earth’s resources we use. REUSE, don’t just bin it, could someone else make use of it? RECYCLE, can the materials be made into something new? REPAIR, Can it be fixed? REFUSE, extra bags, packaging and items made by children in sweat shops. RETHINK, how much energy do I use, how could it be less, what is the impact to the planet?

7 R’s in Designing REDUCE, the amount of damaging resources when designing. REUSE, resources that you have before buying new. RECYCLE, resources that others no longer need to make something new. REPAIR, so it can be easily & cheaply fixed if it breaks. REFUSE, resources which have been made using un-reputable sources. RETHINK, How could I make it better for the future of the World?

www.traid.org.uk Case Study - Traid TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development) is a charity committed to protecting the environment and reducing world poverty through recycling and delivering educational programmes and campaigning within the UK. Funds raised by TRAID through the collection and sale of reclaimed clothing and shoes help to divert waste from landfill and fund sustainable development projects in some of the poorest regions of the world. Fashion changes faster than the seasons. Most of us are constantly trying to keep up. In the UK, we spend a staggering £46 billion on clothes and accessories every year. Over the past five years, a number of discount shops have appeared on the high street offering affordable catwalk fashion to the masses. They have compressed the time it takes for clothing to travel from catwalk to shop rails. Stores are accepting shipments of the latest styles several times a week and selling them just as quickly. These pieces of clothing are sold at such affordable prices that consumers don’t think twice about wearing them only a handful of times before relegating them to the backs of their closets – or worse, throwing them away. The problems with cheap chic and throwaway fashion are complex. There are already hundreds of millions items of clothing that are being thrown away year after year in the UK. Many of the older clothing is of high quality and very durable. Why not reuse this clothing again and again? UK consumers would have a plethora of styles to choose from while less natural resources would be needed to create new clothes and less waste would be sent to landfill. TRAID aims to provide a stylish alternative to the high street by supplying good quality second-hand clothing to the UK public in its high street chain of charity shops. www.traid.org.uk

It’s a bit different from your high street Charity Shop…. TRAID operates over 900 textile recycling banks across the UK. Clothing donated to TRAID recycling banks is transported to TRAID's central warehouse and sorted by hand according to quality and style. The clothing is then sold back to the public in one of TRAID's charity shops. Clothing that is torn or stained is reconstructed and redesigned into new one-off pieces and sold under the award-winning recycled fashion label, TRAIDremade. The money that is raised by TRAID through this operation is used to expand TRAID’s recycling activities, fund assemblies and workshops in London schools and donated to overseas development projects.

Traid Designers www.fashionfavours.com Designer Paula Kirkwood returns to TRAID to head up its award winning recycled fashion label, TRAIDremade.  In 2000, Paula started out at TRAID as a Shop Assistant, and after a stint managing TRAID Brighton, she became in house designer for TRAIDremade.  Paula, who has a BA in Fashion and Textiles, eventually moved on to set up an ethical bride wear company in Brighton.  She returns to TRAIDremade to head a team creating gorgeous ethical fashion from clothing otherwise destined for landfill. www.fashionfavours.com

Task Your task is to re-create the way Traid operate but for your school. Follow your standard D&T project processes. You need to find good quality, unwanted clothes and accessories from local sources (you can ask famous people too!) and ask them to donate them to your cause (you will need to also identify which charity you will support with your gains) You will need to sort through the items, decided how much to re-sell them for and if they can be improved by adding embellishments, changing them from trousers to a skirt etc. Label and market your goods, decide how much to sell them for. Set up a sale, invite people to come along to buy your goods.

References The majority of research – statistics on textile usage etc. was from: Well dressed? The present and future sustainability of clothing and textiles in the United Kingdom. This report produced in 2006 © University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing. http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/sustainability/projects/mass/UK_textiles.pdf www.bbc.co.uk/thread and www.traid.org.uk and www.fashionfavours.com