Overconsumption is so 2 years ago.

      It is no mystery that millions of people in our society over consume. Author, Alastair Fuad-Luke touches on the subject in his book, Contemporary expression: Design Activism. He alludes to the fact that the over consumers are some of the biggest offenders when it comes to environmental damage. Their needs must be fulfilled and they therefore they think that more is better. I am here to tell this targeted group that this is certainly not so. I have a new deign concept led by design activism to help solve this issue while still allowing consumers to feel fulfilled all the while helping our environment to become more sustainable. Through my design concept, we are becoming design activists- meaning; we are getting a large amount of people to come together to help raise awareness about over consumption. As design activists we are promoting a greater good.
    
      My idea for a design concept this week is to have company that will provide consumers with a “virtual closet”. It will be a web-based company that allows consumers to design their own clothes. The company will make the clothes from eco friendly materials while also practicing eco friendly manufacturing techniques and then send the garment to the consumer. This point will satisfy the theory Fuad-Luke touches on when he says that consumers respond well to companies that use ethical production. If this is truly the case, consumers will respond very well to this concept. And to make this process even more sustainable, in order for a customer to get a garment they must to give a previous garment back to the company that they got from this website. By utilizing this concept, we will be fixing over consumption because the customer has to give in order to receive. Once materials are sent back they will be reused in other garments in other consumer's orders.
    
      The website will be a bit like pintrest in the fact that the consumer will be able view other user’s designs to become inspired to create an outfit. On the site, the consumer can give their dimensions so that the computer system can show what the garment will look like on the consumer before he or she buys the outfit and even before the garments are made. This way, if the consumer is not happy with the style or fit and do not buy, there will be no waste left because it was never made in the first place. There will also be suggestions for which fabrics to use for different activities so that the consumer can pick the right eco friendly material that will wear well with the activity. Suggestions for what trends are popular will also be listed so that the customer can still feel like they are up to date and remaining trendy.  The consumer will give up nothing except for wasted closet space filled with unused, wasted materials, also a way we will fix overconsumption.

      Fuad-Luke suggests in his reading that using social sciences in design activism will gain attention from consumers. Their need to be fulfilled and integrated into a design will draw the consumer in. This concept I have come up with will satisfy the consumer’s needs using the social sciences theory. The consumer will feel fulfilled with their need to participate, create, to have freedom, and to even satisfy leisure. This idea will be targeted toward those who enjoy a creative lifestyle that is very much inspired by trends and friends. They also like to feel like they are making a difference in the world without having to put much effort in. A problem these days is laziness in consumers to recycle, reuse etc. Therefore this company will be doing the hard part; the consumer will just sit back and be in control (or so they think) which will be very enticing to them. This design concept will help solve over consumption and will live up to the cradle to cradle theory “waste=food” because materials will have several different lives for many different consumers.

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      I have learned a huge amount of information this semester on how we as humans are doing a lot to harm our environment. The most important thing that I learned about was that while we are living our everyday lives, we need to understand that all of our actions are harming the environment and it is totally in our control to stop and learn to fix our actions to prevent future damage. I am going to take this information to become more aware of what I am doing. Now, I will start to look for more eco friendly ways to live my life. For example, while shopping I can now realize when I am over consuming. I have learned that I can live with basic essentials and I do not need all of this “clutter” I am buying and never using. While yes I did learn that it is in my control to stop my harmful actions, I would, however, still like to learn more about what I can do in everyday life as a consumer to help prevent more harm. I feel like this class focused a lot on how much damage is being done and that the solution was then up to us to be creative and fix. I like this method but I would still like to be more educated on small ways we can become more sustainable in our everyday lives—what can we do NOW i.e: give a weekly suggestion list of eco friendly apparel or interior products we could begin to utilize. I feel that this class would be more beneficial if suggestions like that were made while also giving the class a fun interactive activity to be apart of.

Our sole purpose is to understand our consumer

      The concept Waste=Food is a concept from the reading: Cradle to Cradle that is so simple yet so accurate and relevant today. Society today often over consumes. Throwing away a product that is deemed “finished” will soon be a thing of the past with this simple concept. Within this concept of cradle to cradle there are two “metabolisms” which are discussed: biological metabolism and technical metabolism. Biological metabolism seeks to design a product that once the consumer is through with it, can be safely put back into the soil to biodegrade. Technical metabolism, on the other hand, is up cycling a product to be used again and again for three to four more life cycles.

      According to the other reading this week, C2CAD: a sustainable apparel design and production model, in order for a change to be made, designers must understand the needs of the consumer. After some research, thought, and consideration I have come up with a design concept that deals with the biological metabolism. Shoes are an everyday necessity for humans. Because we know that humans need these products without a doubt, I have come up with a solution that allows humans to bury parts of their shoes when they are done. The other part of the shoe that cannot be buried will be recycled and can be used again for another pair of shoes.

      Just like Marcia Ganem from the reading by Bradley Quinn: Textile Futures, I will utilize worn out tires as well as inner tubes. These materials will be the sole of the shoes. The fabric for the greater part of the shoe (the part covering the foot) will be made from 100% organic materials that can be stripped from the sole of the shoe and then buried to go back into the soil safely, without harm to our environment. There can be different varieties of the shoe as well. Shoes will be offered in the form on sandals, ballet flats, full coverage flats (like those of the TOMS brand shoe), etc. I believe that because we understand that humans need shoes and are looking for environmentally friendly alternatives to ordinary products, that these shoes will do very well in the apparel market.

One Product: Many Lives

What’s the big idea?

      A problem in the apparel industry today is that consumers are generating and using products at a faster pace than we can even imagine. They want their product now and they want it fast. Once the product is done being used, however, the product is disposed of and never reused. This waste is clogging up landfills at an unusually fast rate. The guilty apparel industry is one that could use a lot of help when it comes to making a product have more than one life. We do not want to create monstrous hybrids- mixtures of materials that cannot be saved after their one life cycle. Instead, we want to create many lives for one product. This concept is known as technical metabolism. Having a product and creating multiple life cycles for it is going to be a key component for the future of the apparel industry.

What’s the big solution?

    While we may think that there has to be some grand solution to our problem to help foresee many life cycles for a product, we do not have to make it more complicated than it already is. I realized that with each purchase we make we always take our merchandise home in a paper or plastic bag. Why not incorporate multiple life cycles for these bags often just thrown away after a short amount of usage. Yes, we do sometimes use these bags for trashcan liners, but I believe we can make these bags more useful in an innovative way. I imagine having a bag that has straps that can double as a belt, a necklace, and a bracelet. The bag itself could also be used as a purse if needed. The detachable strap can be removed to be used as any of the above products or they can simply stay so that you can have a purse or shopping bag. The store would allow the customer to choose their style of bag which with which they will also bring back the next time they come shopping in the store so that the store is not constantly giving out new bags.

How does this incorporate Cradle to Cradle?  

    The idea of cradle to cradle is to bring waste a new life. Instead of just throwing a product away and building up landfills, why don’t we give this waste a second chance to fulfill another duty. I learned from the reading, Cradle to Cradle, that we are putting so much pressure on our earth to provide more and more for us each day. This is a big problem that if not fixed will cause us major issues for our environment. The idea of having a bag that doubles as a shopping bag and purse that is constantly being reused is giving new life to a product that once before was being discarded as soon as the consumer got home. The detachable strap is also being reused several times as accessories. This will allow consumers to buy an entire “look” when they are shopping. They can get their clothes at the store and with their purchase, get a bag that can double as an accessory. The consumer will need to look no further after their purchase at this store because they have provided endless accessorizing options by giving three and four lives to this one product. The video watched this week also helped me to realize that we have not been following nature’s rules of nothing being wasted. This design concept is now following these rules.

Tangle yoursleves into a new vision

Biomimicry is a term that is being heavily utilized in the eco-world these days. Designing to mimic the environment is an idea that should adpoted by major companies in the apparel indusrty. Working with the environment instead of against it would open up endless opportunities. There are industrial ecology principles that should be utilized if we want to see the idea of biomimicry thrive. The two principles, using materials sparingly and not fouling our nests are the two I will utilize this week to forsee a sustainable future.

Using materials sparingly is exactly as it is stated, use the materials for manufacturing products ONLY if you need them.One big issue with society today is their thinking of more is better. This is not necessarily true. Over consumptions leads to over crowding in landfills. This is a major issue specifically in the apparel industry. An idea that can help to fix this problem would be to more effectively manufacture clothing within the reatil stores. We see a large bulk of merchandise head straight back to the clearance department of stores. Most of the clearance merchandise does not get purchased. So where does this unwanted merchandise go? Mostly into landfills. My idea is to have small and large chain retailers as well as independent retailers have one prototype of the garment in the store. The customer can come into the store and try on the protoypes of each garment that they wish. If they want to purchase the garment or accessory, they can order it and can come pick up their order within the next few days when it is ready. This would fix the issue of over consumption in the store, so merchandise would not be wasted if it was not purchased. Materials would also be used sparingly becuase the designers are not producing in bulk but they are producing for demand. This could also bring about the idea of "localism" that Kate Fletcher brings up in her book, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles. Local designers would have more of an opportunity to show off their skills and big name retailers would not dominate the retail world. It is stated in Fletcher's book, "at the local level it is possible to work closely with users and to develop new or reinstitute old styles as appropriate." Local designers would be able to use local materials and would be able to design for their customer to insure porfit.

The idea of not fouling our nests should also be utilized within the apparel industry. We as humans, should be living in a world that does not slowly kill us. If we "foul our nests" we are comiting suicide slowly but surely. We need to begin living in a society that allows us to thrive instead of deminish our beings. This idea could be used in the apparel industry by only using completely sustainable materials. An idea to work our way to this notion would be to create a lingerie line that is made almost completely from spider silk. Bradley Quinn writes in his book, Textile Futures, that Spider Silk is one of the only material that is completely sustainable and does not harm our environment when producing this fiber. It is strong and sustainable. What more could desginers ask for? Creating a line of lingerie that is completely sustainable would create a buzz in the apparel world becuase of its newness and mystery. This would then in turn result in high demand and sales which would encourage more designers to seek completely sustainable fibers. Though Quinn Bradley's book states that it is hard to reproduce such a fiber as spider silk, I believe that with our curiousty and technology combined, this fiber will be readily available in the near future.

Though these ideas seem far fetched, the future is ever evolving and these ideas can and will help the environmental issues we are facing today.

Coming full circle

Starting now, we must begin to implement design strategies that do not harmfully impact our environment. Today, it is seen almost everywhere that industries are unsustainable. In the apparel industry, it is apparent that companies need to start looking at the entire life cycle of their products. The most important aspect of the life cycle for apparels in my opinion, is how to dispose of the garment. We know good and well that the fashion industry is fast paced; one minute a style is in and the next it is out. Because it looks as though we are not going to change this mentality in the near future, let's see how we can fix this problem in an efficient way that benefits both parties, the consumer and the company.

 I would like to see companies implement a strategy that got consumers to donate their used clothing in order for the designers to re-use materials instead of being wasteful and using new materials for each and every garment. This would utilize the principle of IE "Optimize rather than Maximize" from the book "Closing the Loops in Commerce: A Business run like a Redwood Forest." Using materials sparingly instead of using as many materials as possible will help solve this problem. After the latest trends have gone out of style, the company can promote discounts on clothing if the consumer donates their products that have gone out of season.

It would also be nice to see a company that only uses materials straight from the earth. Instead of using materials that are highly processed and use an immense amount energy, this company would be completely raw. For example, a home decor company could heavily utilize this design concept. Using only wood straight from the forest and materials from the earth to create home decorations. This would be adopting the IE principle "Design for the Environment." This design company would be designing for the environment while designing WITH the environment. Consumers would be using completely raw materials that essentially emit no toxins into our environment and also do not use much energy to create.

Coming full circle and realizing that we need to fix our problems now lit a fire inside of me to come up with design concepts that will help our environment. I can now only hope that industry leaders can adopt this mentality as well.

"I have a vision, that one day we can see a world of perfect sustainabilty..." -Dr. Lindsey Leanna Reents

When reflecting on my capacity for future consciousness, I would like to think I am an optimist; however, after thinking, I feel as though am I a bit of a pessimist. I too would like to think that all of these changes we are making will benefit our environment but in the grand scheme of things, we still have so much to learn about sustainability. The future is impossible to predict. Who is to say that in 50 years scientists won’t find that in our attempts to become sustainable we have only furthered ourselves into this unsustainable mess? The topic of sustainability is somewhat like cancer. You cannot predict it’s forth comings as well as how to effectively treat it. In essence, we are trying to fix our environmental issues (cancer) with Advil. We absolutely know that this is no cure for such a disease.

 In order to change my pessimistic outlook, I will need to see results from our actions. Without results, who’s to say our extreme efforts are paying off? Even just small results will affirm that our actions are indeed improving mother earth. I will need to change my attitude in order to optimistically see these changes. My vision for the future would be that all consumers were aware of their environmental impact and that companies with such extensive advertisements would realize that they are encouraging over consumption which will in turn hurt our environment. I vision a world where people are not greedy and power hungry. If people were to live modestly instead of trying to impress their neighbor, maybe our societies would not over consume. I would like to see a world where we knew our environmental impact; that science was so advanced, we knew exactly what our environmental impacts were.   

After reading about all of the hurt we are doing to our environment just through the apparel and interiors industries, other aspects of our lives are doing the exact same thing but possibly in a worse way. I agree with Alan Durning in his article, Limiting Consumption, when he says that consumers over consume because of low prices, these prices should reflect the environmental costs as well. I think consumer knowledge would play a big role in fixing and shaping up our environment. If we knew exactly where we stood in terms of sustainability, we could change much more than we can now.

The mental mode as of now is that our societies, no matter how hard they try will not and cannot help our environment. They believe we are doomed from the start. Because of this mental mode, we are seeing no changes. These patterns of thinking need to be changed. In my vision, people of the world need to see and believe that what they are doing is in fact harming our environment. If they knew their impact and the consequences things would be different. Mental modes will need to shift in order for my vision to be put into action. One mental mode that will need to be implemented is that life is not a competition. If our mind sets were not always focused on being the trendiest, richest, and greediest, our environment would not be in such a world of hurt right now. Societies around the globe will need to believe and practice that their efforts, no matter how big or small, will impact our environment in some way. People will have to understand that no matter what they do, all of their actions do impact something or someone around them. For societies to understand this and practice it, my vision would be being put into action. If people understood what they were doing, I think the sustainability of our environment would change. Do they really want their future generations to be negatively affected by their actions?

If societies were told today that competition were not an issue, people would fight this belief. Everyone wants to feel significant. Everyone wants to feel like their hard work is paying off. If your hard earned money was not being put to use by over consumption, what would we have to show for our efforts? I think many people would stop trying so hard at their jobs. They would not want to work as hard because their earnings in essence do not matter. If they do not have the biggest house on the block and do not feel as though their hard earned money is being put to use, what’s the point? People will have to sacrifice their egos in order for this vision to work. The political willingness to implement new changes is a factor that is lacking when it comes to the sustainability paradox. (Visioneering: an essential framework in sustainability science).  If people were first willing to fix their snowballing actions we would start to see a sustainable future even today.

In order for others to follow and implement my vision, they will need to understand that they are impacting our future generations as well as their generation. Being healthy is important to most. If they find that their harsh environmental impacts are harming themselves (the most important thing to them) as well as their loved ones and their future relatives I think they would be more aware and apt to change their actions. It was stated in “Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future Consciousness” that if we are not more future conscious, our species will not flourish or survive. If people understood the severity of this they would change their actions. I feel that the greediness and self-fulfilling prophecy of most is the driving factor in over consumption. If their attitudes were to change my vision for the future would begin to unfold and a sustainable future would be ahead.

Buy Me! I'm made from 100% recyclable material...Not So Fast.

Are you falling victim of product greenwashing? Unless fully educated on the matter, the answer to this question is probably yes. Unfortunately, many consumers around the globe are seemingly buying eco-friendly products. While the package and manufacturer claim the item is in fact eco-friendly, this may just be a marketing ploy to draw in uneducated, "do-gooder" consumers who would like to think they are helping their environment.

     Some typical ploys used by manufacturers included pictures on packaging that result in false advertisement. For a mommy-on-the-go, when going grocery shopping, seeing a box of dishwashing detergent or laundry detergent claiming, "Made with 20% more recyclable materials than before" may seem like a good idea in theory. Little does that mommy-on-the-go know that the manufacturer may have just gone from using 2% recyclable materials to 3%. While the ad is true, the environmental impact is not as helpful as it seems on the packaging thus, resulting in false advertisement. 

      Companies also use advertising strategies that use fluffy eco-friendly terms which also make the consumer feel like they are doing their part to become more sustainable. The use of these terms make the product look eco-friendly while their product is hardly that. By using vague vocabulary that gives no credibility, it is not hard to see that these claims are just clever marketing tools being utilized by companies to get consumers to buy their product over another. Because companies realize that becoming more environmentally friendly, lying to customers and using false advertisements is a sneaky strategy companies are using today to capitalize.

      Some companies are just flat our lying to consumers. In order to keep from falling victim to these advertising ploys, here are a few examples of good and bad marketing strategies:

BAD:

The Essentials

PRANCING LEOPARD ORGANICS is a sustainable, multidimensional and philanthropic apparel company dedicated to eco-conscious living.  With fashion-forward styles inspired by Yoga, Pilates, Dance and Fitness as well as luxury organic cotton fabrics, Prancing Leopard Organics represents the ultimate in exclusive apparel for fitness and leisure.

Ethic-Chic

To benefit both the wearer and the world, Prancing Leopard choses organic fabrics.  Their goal has been to find the most beautiful fabrics, combining natural organic fibers with comfort and performance.  Prancing Leopard apparel is made with sustainable fibers to support organic farmers and sustainable farming practices.

This company, found from ecouterre.com, Prancing Leopard, may seem like it is producing an eco-friendly product. The company uses words fluffy words and vagueness to draw in the customer. By saying that they are creating a product geared for those who practice yoga and Pilates, they are already conveying to the consumers to believe they are eco-friendly. Because most perceive yoga and Pilates to be a holistic way to work-out, this is simply not the truth. The company also uses words and phrases like "most beautiful" "organic" and "natural" that paints a picture in the consumers mind that the product they are buying is eco-friendly. By saying that they are a philanthropic company, that also gives consumers the idea that they are geared for environmental friendliness. They are also very vague in how they portray their "organic" and "natural" products. Cultivating fibers that are organic and natural are sometime just as bad for the environment as cultivating conventional fibers. Their use of fluffy words and vagueness lets me know that this product is also using a clever advertising strategy to gain customer loyalty.

GOOD:

Melissa shoes from Brazil are 100% recyclable, made of a special material, MeliFlex, a mono-material which can be disassembled and recycled. These adorable ones, designed by Italian Gaetano Pesce, are made of a series of plastic discs, joined only at their edges. In the past Melissa has had shoes designed by Zaha Hadid, and the Campana Brothers.

This ad, found from TreeHugger.com, is very credible. Here, what you see is what you get. They give specific examples how the materials used are sustainable. They do not use clever word choice to draw the consumer in. By utilizing a product that is bought and used by most; this product, which will be heavily utilized, is in fact trying to help our environment.

      I believe that the standardization of environmental claims will improve true transparency of companies. I feel that companies are wrongly capitalizing on consumers who are not educated on sustainability. The consumers who think they are doing good for the environment are actually being tricked and lied to. If standardization were to be fully utilized, consumers who actually care about our environment would be rightfully served