Bio-couture: The Future of Fashion?
photographer Santiago Arribas Peña from the Science Museum
I stumbled upon a link to the BioCouture research project and was intrigued by what I found there. From what I’ve found by looking through the various photos on the website is that the goal is to radically change the clothing industry to address the ecological impact and the sustainability of fashion in the future. There have been a number of movements in the last few years to reduce the environmental impact of the immensely destructive chothing industry. Recycling and Refashioning have challenged the way that fabrics are viewed and used. Organic and Fair Trade seek to address the economic and ecological devastation visited upon developing countries. However, this BioCouture movement may just be the most radical yet. They have created and are using a new type of fiber, bacterial-cellulose combined with natural fruit, vegetable and spices to dye the material. Their website, which seems unfinished, does show some completed pieces including a “Veggie” Biker jacket decorated with and a “denim” shirt stained indigo with natural colorants. What I’m most surprised to see if that most of these materials are dated 2007.
Under the “links” section is the equivalent of an “About” page that lists information about the project team members. These include an author, Suzanne Lee, and a Dr. who serves as co-director of a Biotech firm funded by a grant from The Research Centre for Fashion, the Body and Material Cultures. You can purchase a copy of Ms. Lee’s book, published in 2005, on Amazon: Fashioning the Future
Curran by Cellucomp (UNITED KINGDOM) is a high-strength biofiber formulated from degraded carrots with a stiffness that rivals carbon fiber. The material is remarkable for its capacity to enhance sustainability in a wide range of applications where lightness, maximum performance, and durability are crucial, from consumer products to aeronautics.
In poking around the internet a bit more, I was able to locate the new, updated website for The Biocouture project website. An update on the homepage indicates that the new BioCouture jacket is on display at London’s Science Museum in the Wellcome Wing. The jacket will appear in a new exhibit titled, “‘Trash Fashion: designing out waste’” beginning June 2010 through February 2011.
I’ll continue to follow the exciting developments of the BioCouture project. I love the idea of growing fabric from bacteria using environmentally-friendly manufacturing practices. Perhaps one day I’ll be able to buy new clothes without damaging the earth. Until then though, I’ll just keep refashioning the clothes I recycle from Goodwill.
Recycle-A-Bicycle
Looking for a bicycle this summer? Even if you need parts, safety gear or accessories I always recommend supporting your local bike shop. I was so excited to come across these bike shops in NYC. These retails stores take in bicycle and gear donations, refurbish them and sell them to the public. Best yet, profits from the retail sales go to support youth programs around New York City.
Recycle-a-Bicycle is an innovative, fun youth training and environmental education initiative that has taken root in New York City public schools and respected after-school youth programs.
These youth programs are actually based in the public schools where kids can sign up to learn bicycle mechanics as an elective. Body do I wish I could’ve taken that in school! What a great way to get kids interested in biking early, who may not have had the opportunity. Bicycling is great for health and the environment and and caring for your own bike, which can otherwise be an expensive endeavor, is a great life skill to learn. For kids who don’t have the resources to buy a bike from the retail shops, they allow students to drop in after school and work in the shop to earn a bike. Additionally they sponsor summer programs focused on arts and the environment. All of these programs help teach these kids responsiblity, ingenuity and proof that good things can be achieved through hard work and volunteerism. So, if you are in the NYC area, you can donate a bike, volunteer your time and spread the word. For the rest of us, check out more about the program here and donate what you can. Help support a great program that supports the recycling and kids. Hey, maybe you could even start a movement like this in your own city…
Enter the Inhabitat Spring Greening Competition
Inhabitat, a blog devoted to sustainable design, wants you to make something awesome out of old junk and share it! They are hosting the Spring Greening Competition, where you can compete for praise, recognition and $250 gift certificate to be used in the Inhabitat Shop. The Inhabitat shop has everything from worm composters to fashionable pumps, so you’ll have no problem spending your new loot. So…find some old junk, make something rad, take a bunch of photos and enter the competition already!
Target’s Eco-Friendly Page
I buy my household supplies at Target monthly and have always been satisfied with the number of eco-friendly products that they offer in terms of cleaning supplies, etc, but I always do my shopping in store. Today, when I received an email advertisement from Target I decided to check out their online deals. What I was really surprised to find what that they have a link to their eco-friendly products. Half-expecting to find a bunch of green-washed stuff for sale, I actually wasn’t disappointed by their offering. As always, it’s best to do without if you really want to help the environement by reducing your consumption of any raw materials, but I’m just not going to live that way because I live in reality land. So… if you are interested in learning more about some of Target’s eco-friendly alternatives you can find them here. Everything from reuseable bags and organic cotton bed sheets, to furniture “Made of 100% formaldehyde-free birch plywood with eco-friendly, 100% nontoxic, water-based stains and UV-curved finish to minimize greenhouse gases”. I was pretty impressed with the selection of seemingly lower environmental impact products. While I’m certain that the most hardcore of environmentalists may not agree with shopping at Target at all, those of us in the moderate, just-trying-to-do-our-part category, this may be a useful way to investigate greener options to the products were were going to buy anyway. Just remember to try to combine shopping trips and don’t buy more than you really need; for the environment and for your own well-being (to be read as fiscally responsible) curb your shopping a bit and try to stick to picking up your basics once a month. Oh! Don’t forget; another important service that Target offers is recycling your batteries and cell phonesand donating the proceeds to charity. Just take your stuff to their Guest Services desk and they’ll contribute to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
The Coming Water Crisis
While listening to NPR on my way back to Baltimore yesterday I listened to a very interesting story about the coming Water Crisis. Essentially the guest speaker, Steven Solomon, was discussing how global water usage is increasing at a leve that cannot be sustained. In fact, some of the hardest hit regions who will be facing water shortages soon are areas in which terrorism has taken, or is beginning to take hold. The global consumption of our limited water resources may even spark the next major conflict. You can read the article on NPR here and listen to the broadcast for more information, “Will the Next War be Fought Over Water?“.
Immediately after hearing this story I was reminded of an article I read while back on Treehugger, where it lists the amount of water needed to produce a single new tshirt or pair of jeans. Fortunately I found that article here, “How Many Gallons of Water Does It Take to Make…”
Here are the facts straight from the article:
Pair of Jeans
It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular ol’ blue jeans. [2]
Cotton T-Shirt
Not as bad as jeans, it still takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.
Now, if you think that just because you make your own clothes by knitting, crocheting, or buying fabric in the store that you are helping to reduce your water consumption, just look at what the article says about your raw materials:
One Pound of . . .
Wool: 101 gallons of water
Cotton: 101 gallons
In short, one great way to avoid consuming more than your fair share of water and starting on the slippery slope that will lead to famine, death, terrorism, and finally war is to stop buying new clothes! There are thousands of vintage stores, second hand and thrift shops available where you can purchase used, or as I like to call them, previously loved clothing. There are so many great resources online that can show you how to sew, refashion, and remake clothes, If you prefer to knit, but can’t find a sweater that you really like, buy a used one and recycle the yarn. If you can’t bear to take up sewing or knitting, but still want to do your part, but don’t want to dig through thrift stores, then buy online. Online sellers like Etsy have tons of shops selling recycled couture, so you can still look good and do your part to slow the damage to our Earth. I’ll include more links below to help you do additional research on the size of the issue at hand as well as places to purchase used clothes and links to groups of folks who have pledged not to buy any new clothes to help reduce their footprint on the Earth.
The Water Crisis:
The Coming Crisis: Water, Not Oil
Failing Wheat Crop Causes Afghan Food Crisis
Obscured By War, Water Crisis Looms In Yemen
We Use How Much Water? Scary Water Fooprints, Country by Country
Groups Embracing the Stop Shopping or Nused Clothing Movement to Recycle, Upcycle or Refashion Clothing:
The Great American Apparel Diet
Great Places to Shop for Refashioned, Recycled, Vintage Clothing:
So, maybe you can make one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2010 to stop buying new clothes? So go on, get shopping, just make sure it’s been previously loved. Maybe you can even check off two resolutions, by using all of the money you will save not buying new clothes to pay off debt…not a sermon, just a thought 
WorldofGood.com
I occasionally pick up crafting items/fabric from Ebay because I can get a used tshirt with free shipping for less than at my local Goodwill (which can run in excess of $4.00). Today, while perusing the site I came across a new section of Ebay called World of Good. The “About” section says, “WorldofGood.com by eBay is the world’s first online marketplace to convene thousands of People Positive and Eco Positive sellers and products all in one place, empowering you to shop in ways that align with your personal values. Respected, independent organizations verify the positive impact every product has on people and the planet. Our goal is to ensure that every choice you make here is a good one”.
WorldofGood.com breaks products down into four categories: People Positive, Eco Positive, Animal Friendly and Supports a Cause. People Positive ensures that “producers get great new opportunities”, or fair-trade practices. Eco Positive, are “good products for the planet” or what you think of as “green” items (ie, recycled, refashioned, use conservation-based raw materials and/or production methods. Animal Friendly and Supports a Cause are pretty self-evident in their product descriptions.
This new method of buying and selling is intriguing and I’m going to look into becoming a seller and I hope that this categorization helps people to more easily make informed decisions about the products they buy and how they affect the world around them.
Here is a link to the press release issued on September 3, 2008, “eBay Launches New Online Marketplace for Ethically Sourced and Eco-Friendly Products”.
My Very Own Etsy Store
My Very First Etsy Item!
So about 6 months ago I got this crazy idea to start selling my recycled tshirt stuff at outdoor fairs, or even our own Lauraville Market Connection. Unfortunately, neither time nor bank account allowed me to get my little shop off the ground. Fortunately Etsy makes it easy and cheap to try it out. The site listing that I picked out previously is currently being sat on by someone and as my husband reminds me, he did tell me to buy it over half a year ago, doh. The Twitter name is gone too, but luckily it was still available on Etsy and I’ve even uploaded my very first item for sale. www.SerendipiT.etsy.com. It’s alive! So, come visit my little slice of homemade heaven and tell all of your friends about it too, who knows maybe someone else will share my love or passion for recycled tshirt stuff and mabye even buy it. While I can’t give up my full or part-time job status any time soon, maybe this will at least buy me a beer. So, I’ll be adding new items as I finish them in my spare (ha ha) time. Sadly, being married to a graphic designer doesn’t actually get your marketing materials completed first in line, so I’m hoping to have some of those available later this year and you know I’ll post more information up as soon as I’ve got picture. Cheers!
Rich Hippie: Organic, wildcrafted perfume that sounds yummy
I love finding new earth-friendly products to try and review. The health and beauty industry is practically bursting with new, organic alternatives to mass-produced synthetics that can contain nasty things like petrochemicals and “hormone disruptors”; yikes! Today I found a very intriguing product online, Rich Hippie perfume. They make yummy perfumes from all natural ingredients extracted from flowers and plants combined with wine alcohol distilled from grapes with exciting names like “Brown Sugar”, “Maharishi”, “Rock Star”. While these are sold in a limited number of retail stores worldwide you can purchase their organic perfume right on the website. Best yet, you can order samples of each fragrance if you like to mix it up (like I do) or try it before you commit to just one. So take note friends and family, this is a bit out of my budget, but it would make a lovely gift. 
Preserve: Ultrasoft
I try very hard to completely recycle the things that I use by purchasing goods made from previously recycled products. It’s great that we all try to recycle more, but unless these recyclables are actually made into something that we purchase it doesn’t really help the environment. One thing that I purchase and throw away every 3- 6 months is made from plastic (i.e., petroleum-based product), will take forever to degrade, and makes me feel bad every time I buy and toss a new one is… my toothbrush. Not this time! I was on a mission to find a recycled replacement for my toothbrush that was comfortable and affordable. My dentist has always urged me to use the softest bristles available to prevent my gum line from receding after years of brushing too hard. I was stoked to find toothbrushes made from 100% recycled plastics (25% of those from yogurt cups!) and with ultrasoft bristles too! Amazon carries the Preserve Toothbrushes, Ultra Soft Bristles, 6-Count Package
My new home: Welcome!
I’ve officially moved from my blogger page to here and I can’t be more excited. I’ll begin posting my new crafty projects here as I complete them, but you can still check out my old tutorials and recycling advice at my old location www.icouldsewdothat.blogspot.com. Please feel free to comment on the new layout and if you have any requests for refashioning or recycling tutorials I’ve got the entire summer free. Welcome!
