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.