Patagonia Does Black Friday Right

A fascinating sidebar to our earlier post about Black Friday alternatives also ties into concerns about the President-elect of the United States and his views on climate change (although these, like so many of his pre-election stances, seem to be changing by the day).

Outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia has been a long-time warrior in the fight against global warming. So they knew that the fight was really on once they heard the news that climate change skeptic Donald Trump was heading for the White House.

This Black Friday, Patagonia are taking a stand. They will donate all of their sales generated on that day to grassroots environmental groups. Over 800 organisations across the US are set to benefit from the gesture. And this is not chump change–Patagonia expects to clear over $2million in sales on Black Friday through their 80 stores and online.

Corley Kenner, global communications director for Patagonia, said:

"Following the election, the idea was generated internally as a way to demonstrate our deep commitment to environmental issues."

Meanwhile, a statement released on Patagonia's website draws a line in the sand:

"During a difficult and divisive time, we felt it was important to go further and connect more of our customers, who love wild places, with those who are fighting tirelessly to protect them."

Patagonia's stance can only be applauded, and other companies are already starting to follow suit. These are dangerous times, and it's important that everyone, from the business community to the conscious consumer, makes it clear that Trump's values are not ours. This Black Friday seems like the perfect time to start.

Is Trump An Environmental Nightmare?

It's been a week since the shocking rise to the one of the most powerful offices in the world by former reality star and four-time bankrupt Donald Trump. There's a lot of worried people out there that wonder just what shake-ups are in store from the Orange One.

No group has more cause to be worried than the environmental lobby. Trump is a well-known climate change denier, claiming that global warming is a conspiracy started by the Chinese. A key promise that got him elected was the pledge to get coal mining restarted in poor rural areas. One of his first moves was to appoint Myron Ewell, a notable contrarian on the issue, as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Hardly the actions of a man who believes that clean energy is the way forward.

How concerned should we be? In the Guardian, Michael Liebreich picks apart the rhetoric, and makes it clear that much of what Trump has claimed is going to happen simply can't.

For example, coal is on the decline in the States largely because of the threat from shale gas, which is nearly unlimited and considerably cheaper to extract. As coal reserves become harder to find, we look for alternatives. It's simple economic sense... which as a businessman Trump should be able to understand.

Regardless of his views on the EPA (he's referred to the Agency as "a disaster") he can't get rid of it without an Act of Congress, and he simply doesn't have the support there he needs to do that, despite the Republican control of both sides of the house.

With regards to clean energy–it's coming, whether Trump and Ewell like it or not. The technology is improving and becoming cheaper year by year. We're already seeing reports of the UK running completely on sustainable power for a few days earlier this year, and this trend is only likely to continue and grow. That growth may be slower without the US leading the way, but there's little he can do to clamp down on it. And of course, there are sound economic reasons for supporting clean renewable energy, regardless of his views on climate change.

There's an element of 'wait and see' around the Trump administration, as he comes to realise that promises made on the campaign trail do not automatically translate into policy. We should also note that Donald is not afraid of changing his mind on big issues–as recently as 2009 he co-signed a letter to President Obama extolling the virtues of clean energy. I wonder what's happened to change his mind... and what can be done to change it back.

Both Sides Of the Story

The tone of our last couple of posts has been a little... well, bleak, I guess. It's hard to be light-hearted when the world seems to be collapsing around your ears.

The thing is, though, a lot of that attitude can simply be down to viewpoint. Shift that and things can take on a different, more hopeful sheen.

The reportage that is starting to build around the parlours state of fast fashion is good news for one reason. In order to solve a problem, you first have to acknowledge that the problem exists. And all of a sudden, the public has become aware of the massive issues surrounding the way we make and consume mass market fashion. As Orsola De Castro notes in a great article for The Huffington Post, the situation is comparable to the food industry. There have been huge changes over the past twenty years as we have woken up to the fact that what the big food business wants is not that good for us. Sure, there's still a long way to go, but legislation and public will is moving us slowly towards a more sustainable model.

There's a sense within the fashion industry itself that things need to change. As climate change becomes a clear and present danger, old methods can no longer be considered. Sure, we can sneer at the limited runs of so-called sustainable clothing from high street behemoths, or their tiny percentage of ranges shifted over to organic methods. But at the same time they are beginning to adopt practices and procedures that ethical superstars like Patagonia and Nudie Jeans have had at the heart of their business since the beginning. You have to start somewhere. The simple fact is that you can't turn a juggernaut around on a dime. These things do take time.

And there are increasingly encouraging signs of change, particularly when it comes to worker relationships with the big brands. No less an entity than Gap, long resistant to to any sort of supply-chain transparency, announced last week that they would be opening their records as to which factories they use in developing countries and markets. This is a huge step-change for a company who have lost a lot of good will for their stance on, for example, compensation for Rana Plaza families.

Now, you could argue that this is simply a PR exercise to put a bit of shine back on a tarnished public image. Or, you could view it as the first step in the right direction for an industry that has long been walking on a dark and dirty road. Either way, the end result is a positive one. If the destination is worth getting to, does it matter how you make the journey?

Look, this post is a bit of a meander, I know. But it's really important to try and hold onto a sense of perspective in an area where the situation can change very quickly. The View From The Pier can sometimes be foggy and hard to see clearly. But we do our best to give you a reasonably balanced idea of what's going on. There is despair, but there's also hope. We need to hang onto that.

The End Of Cashmere?

Cashmere. It's one of the world's most luxurious fibres. Its softness is legendary, and clothes woven from the fine fleece of the Mongolian Hircus goat have been worn by the well-to-do for thousands of years. But now, as the Business Of Fashion warns, that legacy is under threat.

Part of the draw of cashmere is its rarity. Drawn from the winter undercoat of the Hircus goat, the fibre is hard to get at and only available for a short period. In a good year, the global cashmere yield will be around six and a half thousand tonnes. But that supply is dependant on a finely balanced array of environmental factors. As climate change bites, those factors are shifting.

The Hircus goat lives and feeds on remote grasslands in China and the Mongolian steppes, which are suffering from brutal degradation. Harsh winters and summer droughts have decimated the herds, with some estimates putting the total at 9 million head lost over the last year.

At the same time, brands like Uniqlo are selling cashmere at bargain prices, which bumps up demand. In response, farmers are increasing the size of their herds–which of course puts further pressure on the spare pickings on the grasslands. An unexpected side effect is that the goats that do survive are becoming tougher, the essential fine winter under-coat becoming coarser and less attractive to buyers. With rising temperatures further affecting that insulating layer, some industry experts are gloomily predicting a major fall-off in the supplies of good-quality cashmere.

This is a concern throughout the fashion industry, and in part explains the stance that it is taking on climate change. You can control the look, the marketing, the way the shops sell your goods. But a threat to the raw materials on which everything is based is a business-ending crisis.

So there's something of a fight-back on the cards. The Sustainable Fibre Alliance (SFA) was launched last year to protect the animals, pastors and the environment on which they depend. The Chinese government has applied embargoes on herd size. Meanwhile, a selective breeding programme backed by money from luxury brand behemoth LVMH aims to boost the quality of that all important undercoat–leading to smaller herds but a higher yield of gold-standard cashmere per animal.

There's a possibility, of course, that this could be too little, too late. If so, then the luxury brands will no doubt have a strategy in place for the shrinking supply as cashmere becomes ever rarer and more desirable. But the impression I get is that no-one wants that, and in fact the big names are working hard to protect the herds. It's a good sign that the fashion industry is starting to realise they have a duty of care to the environment, and that responsible stewardship could mean that we can all enjoy the softness of cashmere in the future.

 

 

There's Mush Room For These New Fabrics...

The quest continues for new alternatives to the most polluting and simultaneously popular clothing materials on the planet. Cotton, even in its organic form, is thirsty stuff, and dependent on pesticides. Leather needs highly toxic chemicals in order to be tanned–these can find their way back into water tables. In an ideal world, there would be much safer and more sustainable alternatives.

Researchers across the globe have recently come across a promising lead in the search for a cleaner alternative in the shape of the humble mushroom. Quick and easy to grow, sure. An essential part of the Full English Breakfast, arguably. A replacement for shoe leather or the cotton in our t-shirts?

Well, maybe not quite yet, but the research is very promising. For example, Danish product designer Jonas Edvard has developed a product called Myx. The fibre is created from mycelium–the base layer on which mushrooms are commercially grown. Once its done the job, mycelium is usually thrown away. But Edvard mixes it with hemp and linen waste, byproducts of clothing and rope production. The end result is a stable, strong fibre with all kinds of uses. The mycelium gives Myx a resilient structure, helped by the natural occurrence in the material of chitin–the stuff that makes crustacean shells so strong. Low cost, environmentally friendly and making virtue out of waste products? These are all benefits we applaud highly here at The Pier. Hooray for Myx!

Over in Italy, R&D gurus Grado Zero Espace have come up with MuSkin, an entirely vegan alternative to leather. Made from mushroom caps and tanned without recourse to toxic chemicals, MuSkin is tough yet pliable and easy to adapt to all sorts of potential uses. Think of a material that has the texture of suede, but a much softer feel.

GZE have noted MuSkin's ability to absorb moisture and are looking to use it in items like shoe insoles and watch straps. It's also breathable and water repellent, so they've started making hats out of the stuff. They don't mention how easy it is to scale MuSkin up for commercial applications, but it's exciting to see how versatile it could be.

Our View: many of the materials we depend upon for our everyday clothing needs have been with us for a very long time. In fact, skins and furs would have been some of the first clothes we'd have ever worn. So it seems only right that in the 21st century we should be looking for alternatives. The old saying goes 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' As cotton and leather are so rough on the environment, we'd say it's past time to look for a new solution.

 

Brexit And The Environment

Good grief. I go away for a week, and look what happens.

The U.K. Is facing a major constitutional crisis following its decision to leave the European Union. Immediate chaos aside, there's massive uncertainty as to what that exit could mean for us. Over the next couple of posts, I want to tease out some of the new challenges faced by charities, the environment and fashion in this confusing new landscape.

First things first: no-one knows what's going to happen. Most of what's been talked about up to now is conjecture or at best informed guesswork. However, for the most part the outlook seems to be taking on a particular tone. A pretty sombre one.

Environmentalists are particularly worried, and with good cause. Regulations designed to safeguard our wildlife and natural habitats are largely enforced through legislation from Europe: more than 70%, in fact. If these go in the dustbin post-Brexit, then any protection given to our environment could very quickly be re-written. The Tory government's enthusiasm for fracking, for example, could be reindulged with added enthusiasm under a new regime–one less concerned over pesky concerns over the breeding grounds of the natterjack toad. Or indeed, earthquakes and flammable drinking water.

Another concern is the current ban on the dangerous chemicals in weed-killers that are proven to have a dstabilising effect on the bee population. Legislation for that comes through Europe, and without it it would be much simpler for agri-giants like Monsanto to lobby for restrictions to be lifted in the UK. The potentially catastrophic effect that a crash in bee numbers could have on crop propagation is almost too horrific to contemplate.

Environmental lobbyists and activists are universally concerned about the chilling effect that a switch-off of EU legislation could have on our progress on green issues. Greenpeace UK executive director John Sauven said:

“Many of the laws that make our drinking and bathing water safe, our air cleaner, our fishing industry more sustainable and our climate safer now hang by a thread… There is a very real fear that Cameron's successor will come from the school that supports a bonfire of anti-pollution protections.”

Meanwhile, Friends Of The Earth CEO Craig Bennett urged forcefulness in making sure that important environmental issues are not sidelined in the coming months:

“The referendum may be over but many of the difficult debates are only just beginning. The environment must be at the heart of our negotiations with Europe and how we create a positive future for our country. We cannot let the UK return to the days of ‘the dirty man of Europe’. Protections for our birds and wildlife, our beaches and rivers, must not be sacrificed in the name of cutting away so-called EU ‘red tape’. “

“The environment was rarely mentioned during the referendum but it must now move up the political agenda. With urgent issues like climate change, air pollution and destruction of the natural world already impacting this generation, not just the next, we don’t have time for the environment to take a back seat through years of negotiations.”

Could there be an upside to all this? Many farmers and fishermen voted to leave citing excessive red tape, favouritism to other EU partners in UK waters and quotas that led to fish being dumped and crops left to rot. But those same farmers are beneficiaries to EU funding, and quotas offer protection to dwindling fish stocks. It should also be noted that the European Parliament Fisheries Committee, which is there to protect member's interests, had as one of its members one Nigel Farage–who attended one out 42 meetings. Perhaps if he'd done his job then UK fishermen might be in a better place.

Our View: these are worrying times, of course, not helped by the general air of uncertainty. Some commentators are urging us to see the bright side–a new dawn of freedom as Britain carves its own path in the world. That sounds great, but there's little evidence of that blue sky on the horizon quite yet.

 

Do It Clean

The uncomfortable truth about the clothing industry is that it's the second most polluting sector on the planet. Only oil is worse. That's a depressing thought, but we should view it as a challenge. What can we do to lower the cost and ease the load that every garment we make takes on the planet?

A Californian company called Nomadix thinks it has an answer. Already known for making beach towels from completely recycled materials, Nomadix is now setting its sights on one of the most ubiquitous items of clothing there is: the t-shirt.

The Clean Tee is a concept with a very simple notion, and some very serious science at its heart. Nomadix has teamed up with Spanish company Recover Textiles to produce the garment, using a clever blend of fibres. It's made by re-blending cotton from used clothing and textile waste to create new yarn. That's then combined with recycled poly from plastic bottles, turned into fabric, and sewn into a T-shirt.

So what are the benefits? Let's do some maths. In the course of its manufacture, the average cotton t-shirt will use 9.5 oz. of toxic waste, 2.5 oz. of pesticides and a horrifying 700-1000 gallons of water. That's 7-10 bathtubs full, for a single garment. By comparison, Nomadix's shirt uses no toxins or pesticides, and a mere 8 gallons of water. That's a 99% drop in use. Imagine that sort of saving ramped up to industrial scale, and the advantages that the Clean Tee offers become obvious.

Nomadix are not claiming that the Clean Tee is going to solve all the problems associated with the fashion industry overnight. In fact, they don't even have a viable product as yet. So far, the Clean Tee is running as a Kickstarter campaign, which can only supply a limited number of finished garments. What we're really looking at here is a proof of concept.

But if that concept is sound (and there's no reason to assume otherwise) then the processes behind the Clean Tee can be taken by bigger players and rescaled. It's known that many big clothing manufacturers are looking out for just these sorts of technologies to help lighten their environmental load, as they see the impact that climate change is having on their acquisition of raw material and the damage extreme weather events can have on their infrastructure.

Let's put it like this: it's in everyone's interests for the Clean Tee to succeed. How important can a simple t-shirt be? Well, it might just be the first drop in a flood of innovation that could save the planet.

If you'd like to know more, or snag your own Clean Tee, head over to Nomadix's Kickstarter page:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomadix/the-most-sustainable-t-shirt-on-the-planet

Breaking The Chain

The global supply chain. If there's one motor for the fast profit-driven ride that fast fashion has undertaken, it's the ability to source, manufacture and import goods from anywhere on the planet. Cheap labour and material have driven down prices (and, many would argue, quality) to the point where clothing is often now viewed as a 'buy, wear once and bin' convenience item.

But the global supply chain is a hugely complex beast, and it has its weak spots. The British Standards Institution (BSI) have just released their annual report which lists the threats and problems that give high street giants a multi-billion dollar headache every year. It makes for a fascinating read.

Take piracy. BSI estimates that over $22bn of losses last year were due to cargo theft. A new wrinkle is the massive growth in South Africa and China of raids on cargo trucks, easy pickings for the dandy highwayman. This type of vehicular crime was up 30% on last year, and is set to rise further as more naughty chaps get in on the road games.

Global warming and natural disasters are also a big problem for stretched supply chains. Weather disruptions from storms caused by El Niña have caused breaks in the chain totalling $33bn. This is before we start factoring in the potential losses from crop destruction that led to a strong showing from many global fashion brands at last year's big climate summit in Paris.

When you look at events on a global scale, you see how everything is connected. Terrorism and the refugee crisis all have impacts on the efficient movement of goods across the planet. Road, sea and rail links can become blocked, and terrorist events go after everything–transport hubs being a prime target, of course.

There are more subtle sources at play, too. The shift of manufacturing to South-East Asia and a general slowing in demand is hitting the Chinese labour market. The result? An uptick in industrial action, slowdowns and stoppages. Factory strikes in China were up nearly 60% last year, as owners struggled to pay their employees. The BSI also notes that even if things improve, strikes are still likely, as emboldened workers become less tolerant of abuses from their employers. These days, garment and footwear workers have access to tips on better jobs with improved pay and conditions thanks to mobile technology. The Chinese workforce is more likely than ever to vote with their feet if they find their management isn't up to scratch. It's just another example of how the most unexpected of influences can have huge effects on a global trade.

Our View: Global fashion is a multi-billion dollar industry, and it's clear there's a ton of money to be made–and lost. Business models depend more and more on just-in-time delivery, and factories and farms that play nicely with spreadsheets and carefully-modelled computer predictions. As we've seen, the world has a way of taking that idea and merrily stamping on its toes.

You can read the whole BSI report here.

 

Making the connection between fashion and Climate Change at COP21

Some interesting results are coming out of the International Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, not least from some big names in fast fashion.

Let's start with a blunt statement of fact. Climate change is real, and it's causing catastrophic shifts in the global landscape. Flooding in Chennai has displaced thousands of people. The North of England is still struggling with the after-effects of Storm Desmond, which has caused the highest recorded amount of rainfall in some areas in a century, and forced many hundreds of people out of their homes. It's almost absurdly clear that something has to be done.

Which is what makes the joint statement from big-name multinational brands like Adidas, H&M and Gap quite so striking. They're calling for a robust and immediate deal on climate change and its effects. The reason? Simple common and business sense. The declaration read:

“From the farmers in cotton fields to the workers in garment factories, we know that people in some of the least climate-resilient regions are being negatively impacted by a warming world. Drought, changing temperatures, and extreme weather will make the production of apparel more difficult and costly.”

There's the point. The businesses behind that statement are the largest producers of cotton in the world. Now, I know it's a thirsty crop, but even cotton doesn't do well underwater. The joint statement shows the realisation that climate change presents a clear and present danger to the resources and people without which they cannot survive. Let's be clear: the statement issued at COP21 has little to do with altruism. It's about survival.

Even more interestingly, the alliance pledged to do their part in helping to bring a real solution to the table. Eileen Fisher, eponymous head of the giant fashion brand, said:

“We have to think differently about business as a bridge to change. We have the powerful opportunity to come together across our industry to co-create how we measure success, not only in dollars but in the cost to humanity and the environment. This includes committing to practices and policies that directly address the apparel sector’s impact on climate change.”

Now, this is a big deal. When some of the biggest names in business come together with government to announce change, then two things become clear. Firstly, that something might actually happen this time. Secondly, that these hard-nosed corporate heads have run the numbers on climate change... and they're terrified about what they can see coming.

Time is running out, but announcements on this scale are unprecedented. This is a cross-brand initiative that includes most of the planet's best known apparel names, standing together to demand a real solution to the major issue of modern times. Climate change is an underlying cause of much of the unrest we see today, as arable land and potable water become resources worth fighting over. We'll have to wait and see what form the new agreements and plans take. But for once, we can see political and business needs meeting in the defence of a greater good.

And that has to mean something. Doesn't it?

Perfect Circle

An important challenge to sustainable fashion is based around a very simple question–how do we keep textiles out of landfill? A million tons of clothing goes to the tip in the UK every year, and a lot of it can be recycled in some form. The question isn't just how. The question is how to make it realistic for businesses to make the recycling process worth their while.

We're starting to see a situation where the fashion and textile industries are aware of both their terrible record on sustainability and how that record makes them look to the marketplace. They're looking for incentives and guidance to do the right thing. WRAP, the trans-national organisation at the heart of promoting ethical practice in the clothing market, is about to give them that very thing.

They've launched ECAP (European Clothing Action Plan), which has received a €3.6m fund from the European Union’s environmental financial support instrument, EU Life. The aim is to reduce the carbon, water and waste footprints of textile industries across 11 European countries, and drop the amount of clothing going to landfill–90,000 tons a year less by 2019.

It's an ambitious project with ambitious goals. But the EU funding means that there's an impetus to get businesses on board and explore new and innovative ways to make clothes with a smaller environmental impact. Closed-loop methods are not just being hand-waved as a blue-sky option that might make things better. They're actively promoted as a way to recapture wasted resources and pick up on new business opportunities.

There's also a strong focus on design. It's estimated that 80% of a garment's environmental impact is set at the drawing board. Educating designers in how to make their clothes easier to break back into their raw material means there's a much better chance of closed-loop-friendly garments becoming the norm.

Let's face it, change needs to happen. Earlier this year, WRAP tagged the textile sector alongside food & drink and electronics as areas that account for 25% of the UK’s carbon footprint, 40% of UK household waste and a whopping 80% of its water footprint. Just by targeting that sector, massive and lasting improvement can be made.

WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin is cheerfully bullish about the future of ECAP:

“Finding more sustainable ways to work with textiles is an area set to deliver huge benefits – both economic and environmental. To be leading on a project of this magnitude is something I am very excited about, and applying tried and tested approaches such as voluntary agreements and consumer campaigns across Europe will really take our expertise to the next level. I look forward to watching this initiative progress.”

She's not the only one. Our View: major EU-funded initiatives like ECAP shows how seriously both government and business are looking at notions like closed-loop, which even five years ago seemed like a wacky, unattainable dream. With the money and the will in place, we could be looking at a future where clothing is no longer just a one-time deal.

I'll Tumble For Ya: Shaking Up The Tumble Dryer

It's a little-known fact that a significant percentange of the energy that any one piece of clothing will use in its lifetime occurs after it comes home with you. The processes of washing, drying and ironing can really add up. Which is slightly ironic if you've bought clothing specifically as items to last you a long time. Sustainable fashion is a slippery beast. It gives with one hand and takes hard from the other.
Tumble-dryers are the worst culprits of the lot. They can use up as much energy as a washing mashine, dish-washer and refridgerator combined in one drying cycle. That's greedy, by anyone's standards. Although changes have been made to the controls and external looks of the beast in the utility room over the years, the basic principle of drying through heat and agitation remains unchanged since the machine was first designed back in the nineteen-forties.
There's a move, particularly in America, to use energy-saving techniques long established in Europe to help take the pressure off. And even simple steps like running dryers at a slightly lower temperature can cut down massively on the power they suck out of the grid.
But there may be another way. Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have come up with a new way of drying clothes: vibration. The secret, according to head researcher on the project Ayyoub M. Momen, is in using the same components found in commercial humidifiers that turn water into fine droplets. He placed a piece of soaked fabric on top of these transducers. What happened next, he told USA Today, was a real eureka moment:
"It was mind-blowing when we saw it the first time, how quickly it can dry a piece of fabric. It was amazing. Boom, it was dry in 14 seconds."
Momen estimates that using this new technology, he could cut drying time on a full load down to 20 minutes. This would be a major saving to power needs in the US, potentially enough to take 3 full size coal-fired plants offline each year. Or, to put it another way, 16 million tons of CO2 emissions.
Momen and his team are now working on a full-sized prototype, which they hope to have ready next year. It's an exciting upgrade to a process that many of us take for granted. Although of course, you could always cut out that bit of the energy bill completely and just use a clothes line...

Building The Case For Reusing Waste Textiles

It's a sad fact that we send millions of tons of unwanted or worn-out clothing to landfill every year. As well as being wasteful, it's bad for the environment and puts pressure on recycling services that are already stretched to breaking point.
But there is another way. It's down to the ongoing trend in science to treat waste not as a problem, but as an opportunity. Civil engineer Yu-Fu Ko of California State University has been researching the use of waste textiles, and has come up with a surprising idea: using it to refit buidings that have been damaged by earthquakes.
Ko has hopes that waste fabric, when combined with a resin derived from plant sources, could be strong enough to shore up concrete structures like bridges and buildings that have suffered stress from a building wave of extreme weather events. He believes that this new material is even tough enough to use as a substrate in new builds: the mega-structures of the future.
His new matrix of fabric and resin has other advantages. It helps take pressure from rapidly depleting timber reserves, and is a friendly alternative to the carbon fibre material that's currently used in earthquake-damage repair. This is nasty stuff: tricky to handle and hazardous if the fibres are inhaled.
We're seeing a lot of radical and lateral thinking regarding the whole issue of waste, and Ko's resarch is a fine example of this. If it takes off, we can all feel a little less guilty about binning that worn-out pair of jeans (although repair is always an option...).

Read more on Yu-Fu Ko and his research at the California State University website.

Bag It Up: How Hand-Weaving Could Solve The Plastic Bag Problem

Here at The Pier, we believe that recycling is a big part of the future of sustainable fashion. Cradle-to-cradle thinking along with some smart tchnological knowhow have brought us products like PET, a fabric made from plastic bottles that have been shredded and woven into a thread that can be used for all kinds of products, from bags to jackets.

But there's a more hands-on approach to the reappropriation of discarded plastics that's starting to get attention in the ethical fashion crowd--not least because it's dealing with one of the most ubiquitous items on the planet.
The humble plastic bag is quietly taking over. In the US alone, over 100 million of them are used every year, and yet less than 1% are recycled. The mile-wide island of drifting plastic in the Pacific Ocean is perhaps only the first sign of a future in which we will find ourselves up to the eyeballs in the stuff. The biggest problem is one of blunt finance: it costs more to recycle a bag than to make a new one. But where we see a problem, others see raw materials... and an opportunity.
Reform Studio in Egypt has found a novel way to reinvigorate the dying art of hand-loom weaving, while at the same time empowering local women and helping them to find a way out of poverty. Artisans take the plastic, then shred it and weave it into durable, colourful fabrics for houseware. The material, called Plastex by the company, is long-lasting and water-resistant--a problem which, when in its initial state is choking rivers or landfills, is turned into a positive advantage.
Plastex is cheap, made from nearly limitless and unwanted base materials and can be made using simple techniques that are extremely energy efficient. The techniques have been around for centuries, the equipment often for decades. There's no need to use industrial processes, and the end result uses the bright colours of the bags to create upholstery that's bold and vibrant. Check out their new Grammy's Collection (pictured) that updates a classic 60's chair design for the modern age.
Meanwhile back in the States, bagmaker Sheila Odyssey is using the same techniques to create her range of clutches and purses. The aesthetic here is much more glamourous, shot through with a bright thread of humour--each item states, in a shoutback to its humble origin, that "This Bag Is Not A Toy." But at heart her offerings are much the same as those of the Egyptian collectives: discarded plastics woven on hand-looms. Both Odyssey and Reform Studios have looked past the economic reasons not to do something about the problem of excessive carrier bags, and seen that the solution can be beautifully simple.

Keeping Fashion Out Of The Forests

We're all agreed, I hope, that deforestation is A Bad Thing. Vast swathes of the green lungs of the world are disappearing daily; to feed mankind's hunger for virgin wood, and to clear land for other, more profitable crops.
But did you realise that fabric production is the cause of a significant percentage of the disappearing forests? Rayon, viscose and modal are all basically woodpulp that's been chemically treated and turned into cellulose fibre. Non-profit organisation Canopy has estimated that 100 million trees are lost every year to fabric production. While this fabric is technically recoverable from landfill, once blended with other fibres or decorated, that biodegradability is lost.
When you factor in the environmental damage that occurs as a byproduct of deforestation, or the fact that Indonesia's logging activities have made it the world's third most-polluting nation thanks to carbon debt, it's clear that something needs to be done. Forests are not as renewable as commonly thought, and it can take decades for virgin forest to be replaced once it's been clear-cut.
Fortunately, some big fashion names are taking action. Inditex, home to brands like Zara, along with H&M, Stella McCartney and Quiksilver have all pledged to halt the use of cellulose fibre in their products under a strict three-year turnaround. By 2017, they plan to replace tree fibre use with recycled fabrics, non-wood alternatives, and organic and socially sustainable cottons. Their pledges won't just ease the carbon release caused by deforestation: it'll also protect the fragile habitats of some of the world's most vulnerable animals, and the homes of indigenous tribes.
It's good to see positive and decisive action to slow a worrying trend, but there's still a long way to go, and other big names could help the cause. Nicole Rycroft of Canopy says:

"To help prevent the projected expansion of logging for textiles, clothing brands need to be on board. Once apparel industry leaders start refusing to source from endangered forests, their suppliers will be motivated to find better, more sustainable, alternatives."

6% of all fibre comes from cellulose sources, and a shift away from use of these fabrics can only be A Good Thing. It's important to let the big names know that logging is not the only way. Let's start off by signing the Canopy-Style Pledge, and let the forests grow in peace.
The Canopy-Style Pledge: http://www.canopystyle.org/pledge/

Clean Clothes

We were talking earlier in the week about smart fashion: that is, clothes that do more than keep you warm and flatter your shape. On the fringes of the industry, and in the labs of sports research, innovation is an everyday occurrence, and utility means more than just adding pockets or a hole to poke your headphones through. From companies like Studio XO who developed a dress for art-diva Lady Gaga that blew bubbles, to the visionaries at Biocouture that are brewing fabric, these are exciting times.
It's all about lateral thinking, about considering a problem and flipping it around. Take a simple chore like laundry. It's a necessary evil: washing our clothes rinses detergents into the water supply, and uses kilotons of energy. What if the act of washing our clothes could somehow help, rather than harm the environment?
A collaboration between Helen Storey MBE, a British artist, designer and head of Fashion Science at London College Of Fashion and Tony Ryan MBE, professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Sheffield has led to a fascinating notion: catalytic clothing. Simply put, it's a treatment added to laundry detergent that cleans the air around you of pollution.
Catalytic clothing applies the technology already at work in things like self-cleaning windows and building concrete, and applies it to fabric. Brace yourselves, I'm about to drop some science. The CatClo solution contains nanoparticles of titanium, thousands of times finer than the human hair. When light shines on it, it reacts, splitting oxygen to create free radicals that bleach out the volitile organic nasties that couse pollution. The titanium is deposited on your clothes with every wash, and the process is accelerated by movement. In other words, when you wear clothing treated with the CatClo solution, you become your own catalytic converter, scrubbing the air around you clean. If everyone in, say, Sheffield, was to wash their clothes with CatClo, they could remove three tonnes per day of of nitrogen oxide, a key ingredient in the pollution cocktail, from the atmosphere. Imagine that in smog-choked Beijing.
Big business is, curiously, yet to jump on the idea, despite the fact that it's a reasonably straightforward addition to currently available detergents. There are pitfalls, of course. For one thing, CatClo removes all volatile organic compounds from the air around it, including perfume. So long, Chanel No. 5.
However, public perception of the process is generally positive. All it takes is one forward thinking multinational to step on board, and CatClo could fly. Here's the thing: it doesn't need special clothing or products. But to work successfully, it does need as many people as possible to be using it.
This notion of collectiveness, of working together for the common good, may be anathema to corporate thinking, but it's vital in a world where our environment is changing rapidly, and not for the better. A product like catalytic clothing is just the kind of innovative, forward-thinking notion we need. A tiny step towards a cleaner world.

Space For Cycling

You would think, in this era of dwindling fuel supply, rising prices and global warming, that making our towns and cities more bike-friendly would be a no-brainer. Cycling is, after all, a low-carbon, low-cost, safe form of transport that has the added benefit of keeping you fit.

This is Anna from the LCC. Hi, Anna!

But we are a nation of petrolheads. Note that one of our favourite TV shows features three middle-aged blokes mooning over horribly expensive cars. Many local councils talk the talk when it comes to including provision for cycling in their transport infrastructure, but the end result can be less than satisfactory. My home town of Reading is about to launch a bike hire scheme based on the Barclays-backed initiative that has been running with a questionable amount of success in London, but there's no sign of additional bike lanes to cope with the presumed increase in traffic.
London, of course, has its own problems when it comes to putting cyclists into the mix. The self-styled "cycling mayor" Boris "Wurzel" Johnson has bowed to pressure from car lobbies and Transport For London in keeping the roads fit for cars, buses and lorries. Pedestrians and cyclists have to take their own chances, and the death toll has been rising. The end of last year was a particularly black time, as seventeen cyclists were run down on London roads in the space of a fortnight. The "cycle superhighways" that were launched a couple of years back are simple blue-painted lanes that most drivers ignore. Something, clearly, has to change.

Pier32 is a long-time supporter of the London Cycling Campaign, supplying clothing for them since 2007. We met up with the LCC at the London Bike Show a couple of weeks ago, to cheer on their Space For Cycling campaign. It's a straightforward and sensible set of waypoints towards a healthier, safer capital. Protected cycle lanes, 20mph speed limits and safer cycle routes to school are all great ways to get people out of their cars, helping to ease the strain on London's congested highways. In the run-up to the May by-elections in which the whole of Greater London elects its borough councils, now is the time to put cycle-friendly policy at the top of the agenda for every council candidate.
Many major European capitals have included cycling as a major part of their transport strategy. In The Netherlands, cyclists have priority. It's simply the way that people get around, with the knock-on effect that there's no sign of the testosterone-fuelled lycra-clad morons that give the bike a bad name in the UK. Making room for cycling is, to me, obvious, and I'm delighted to big up the London Cycling Campaign on the View.
Find out more about why it's good to make Space For Cycling at the LCC website.
Space For Cycling.
There are a lot more pics from Anna at the LCC at this Flickr set.

Pier32 supply the LCC with shirts, sweats and beanies from Starworld, Fruit Of The Loom and Headwear, which include:
http://www.pier32.co.uk/product/sw380-hefty-tee/
http://www.pier32.co.uk/product/ss270-raglan-sweat/
http://www.pier32.co.uk/product/4243-acrylic-beanie/

How Your Old Socks Could Save The World

Reycling is one of the most important ways in which we can cut down on waste going to landfills, and drop energy emissions from manufacturing. But it's becoming clearer that we can do more to help out old Mother Earth, by simply going through our wardrobes a little more often.
A new report from the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claims that recycling of old clothes and textiles is a highly significant way of reducing greenhouse gases. According to the study, it has the impact of taking a million cars from the roads, and more than four times the impact of glass recycling. And yet, only 15% of waste textile products find their way into reycling programmes.
Lou Baty, president of SMART, the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association says:

"Local governments need to capitalise on the positive environmental impact of clothing recycling programmes not only as it impacts greenhouse gases, but how it can also extend the lifecycles of landfills.

"The message the public needs to hear is 'Donate, recycle, don't throw away' when it comes to their clothing and household textiles."

The EPA would like to see textiles become a "top-of-mind" recyclable, in the same way that glass, plastic and paper are today. For that to happen, though, there will need to be infrastructure changes. Donating old, clean clothes is becoming easier, with clothes-bank hoppers outside many stores and supermarkets. But it still isn't as straightforward as dumping a washed can into the green bin.

And what about my old socks with the holes in them, or the t-shirt that I just can't get the red-wine stain out of? These are clearly not donatable items, and yet they can find new uses if broken down into their constituant fibres. Fabric recycling is a great idea, and I for one am fully behind it. But for it to take off, the process needs to be a no-brainer, something that can be rolled into your everyday routine without extra work. Once that happens, then we could all really start to see the benefits.

Dry The Rain: H&M's Ambitious New Water Management Plan

Sustainability is, at its heart, the careful management of available resources. It's about ensuring that your raw materials are available when you need them, and that there's a steady level of replacement of said materials. That goes for everything used in the long and complex process of getting a t-shirt into your local Primark, and it has to include the resource without which any process falls apart.
I'm talking about water, of course. Here in jolly old England we think of water as a highly sustainable resource. It falls from the sky at a depressingly regular rate. We're so used to it, we even grumble and wish it would perhaps rain a little less.
That's not the case for a large percentage of the world's population. Water is precious, and the terrible fact is that an awful lot of it goes, not towards irrigation or wells, but straight into clothing factories.
Dhaka in Bangladesh is the place where many of the excesses and woes of the fashion industry are close enough to the surface to be easily examined. Here, the general population have learned to be careful with their water usage. This is not something that can be said for the hundreds of clothes factories dotted around the city. There are 1,700 washing, dyeing and finishing units in Bangladesh. Between them, they consume 1,500bn litres of water a year, much of which is then returned to the supply as chemical-heavy waste. This is a frankly unsustainable waste of a very precious resource.
Help is coming, from an unexpected source. H&M, who have become increasingly vocal in their claims to embrace sustainability with varied results, are teaming up with WWF to roll out a massive root-and-branch change in the way they use water. From their own 92,000 employees to manufacturers on the ground, all the way to the halls of government, H&M are seeking to raise awareness of water issues, and do more to save water at every step in the chain. They've already had some success. Eliminating un-necessary washing at their main denim manufacturer saved 300 million litres, cutting water use by a third. That's a heck of a start. But as heads at both H&M and WWF will happily admit, there's a heck of a lot more to do.
For their ambitious plan to work, H&M need to engage suppliers, manufacturers and even farmers, as well as policy-makers. There needs to be a fast ramp-up in technological innovation and significant changes to national water management policy (for example, there's no such thing as mandatory waste-water treatment in Bangladesh) in order to get things rolling at the pace they'd like. They're even looking at the way that the end consumers of their products use water. Are there ways in which they could wash clothes less often, or save water through half-load washes? It's a complicated mix of strategies that intertwines through every aspect of the supply chain. If it works, then we could see a sea change in the way water is used and consumed, not just in Bangladesh but in other areas of concern in China and Asia where H&M have interests.
Stuart Orr, WWF's fresh water manager, understands the challenges ahead. He says:

"Looking at water is a pretty daunting prospect for any company. You don't solve these issues in five minutes. They take a lot of time, a lot of dialogue, a lot of repetitive action."

H&M and WWF are setting targets for a three-year plan to implement everything that they feel is necessary. That's a lot of work in a comparatively short space of time. Here at The Pier, we really hope they succeed. Effective water management is only going to become more important as the twenty-first century moves on, and they can't afford to fail.

Saving The Rainforest With Lily Cole

You should, as the saying goes, never judge a book by the cover. Take model and actress Lily Cole. Her ethereal, almost alien looks have seen her spook up the catwalk for years. She's been cast as a sea-nymph in Doctor Who, and a mystery girl in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. She seems almost apart from this world. Otherworldly.
Her efforts on behalf of a wide range of ethical campaigns, and her role as the face of Sky Rainforest Rescue tell a different story. Now, in conjunction with them and the WWF she's launched a new range of jewellery, with an unusual main component.
Lily was inspired by a visit to wild rubber plantations in north-west Brazil, seeing huge, delicate sheets of the stuff hung out to dry. The rubber, in jewel-like colours, sparked an idea. It took a little work, though. She says:

"I looked into embroidering it, I looked into putting lace into it and creating different textures. I looked at carving it, but in the end all I had were these millimetre-thick sheets of rubber, so I ended up doing things very simply."

By which, she means pendants, ear-rings, bracelets and rings in warm, soft colours teamed with bronze inserts. They're somehow delicate, their simplicity all the more striking given the craftsmanship of the pieces.
The jewellery is designed to highlight an important issue: the erosion of wild rubber plantations in Brazil. Farmers, faced with dwindling profits in the face of plantation rubber, are cutting down hundreds of acres of virgin forest to clear space for crops and livestock. The task is to persuade these communities that wild rubber still has a place in the global marketplace, and is a viable alternative to farming. Lily wants to help save a billion trees in the Amazon rainforest. Encouraging the use of this most sustainable resource is a good way of keeping the trees where they belong: as part of the lungs of the world.
Projects like this are important to the role of green economics as a part of the general ecological movement. Empowering local communities to make the most of the resources to hand rather than forcing them into an ill-suited subsistence farming model helps them, us and the planet. Here at the Pier we applaud Lily's efforts, and note that this is no expensive vanity project. Her jewellery is thoroughly affordable, with rings starting at just a tenner. Well worth checking out. Why not get a little rubber in your life? You'll be doing us all a favour.

Lily Cole's Jewellery for the Sky Rainforest Rescue project is available at stylistpick.com.

*UPDATE* sold out with more coming soon, I'm told. If you Facebook, you can sign up to be told when new stock becomes available.

Happy Earth Day from Pier32!

Citizens of Earth: greetings! Today, we celebrate the one thing that we all truly have in common--the small, blue dot in the cosmos that we call home.

Earth Day is marked every April 22nd with events and parties around the globe, showing that small acts can make a big difference to the health of our planet if enough of us get together. 

In Copenhagen, Denmark—as well as in six other cities on five continents—the Danish Cultural Institute is organizing its annual CO 2 Green Drive Project in honor of Earth Day. Runners, walkers, bikers, and skaters are using their cities as canvasses to spell “CO 2“ with GPS devices. 

In Argentina, volunteers from the Surfrider Foundation are cleaning up the local beaches and planting evergreens and Tamarisk shrubs to help prevent wind and water erosion.

In Milan, Italy, thousands of people are gathering for the Earth Day Italia Festival to learn about environmental issues and spur action on local green initiatives.

Even Google is getting in on the act, with a special interactive Google Doodle, allowing you to play with the sun and the moon. 

If you can't make it to any big events, maybe you could celebrate Earth Day by pledging to make a small change in your behaviour. Try avoiding non-recyclable drink and food cartons (the so-called "five-minute containers" that are picked up, used and binned within five minutes), or walk, cycle or use public transport to get around. Maybe you could continue the good work set up in conjunction with the WWF last month, and keep the lights off tonight for a little later than usual--much easier now that the nights are stretching out.

As for me: I'm working hard on blog posts unplugged, using a laptop with a great energy efficiency profile, and wearing an old and well-loved organic and ethically produced Pier32 t-shirt. It's a small step, but I like to think I'm doing my bit. 

Check out the Earth Day website, for more on how you can say thanks to Mother Earth for putting up with your shenanigans.