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.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
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.
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.
Friday, March 9, 2012
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 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.
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