OVERCONSUMPTION

Overconsumption seems to me to be a huge issue in today’s society. Shopping has become an activity more for pleasure rather than for necessity. Stores such as Forever 21 make clothing so cheap that it is hard for a consumer to pass up as well as offers such as “2 for $20” make the consumer purchase two of an item rather than just one because they feel they are getting a deal. Design Activism: Beautiful Strangeness for a Sustainable World believes that the flow of consumption is responsible for many of the global issues.

My concept targets purses. I believe that purses have become a necessity for a woman. They also are being designed to be so trendy that styles come and go seasonally. I have several friends who will buy a new purse, reasonably priced every month or so because they get tired of carrying the same accessory daily. I would like to open a shop where consumers will bring in handbags that they are through using and the store will break down the materials and create a new handbag. Scraps from handbags will be salvaged and more than one purse can be combined to create a new one.

TIME FOR A DIAPER CHANGE

This week when reading CSCAD: a sustainable apparel design and production model I read about the “cradle to cradle” model that was integrated into existing production models and apparel design. The study chose to follow the knitwear production, which is made by intertwining yarns in a series of loops that are connected. Knitwear has been known to create environmental problems due to the raw materials using in production and disposing of the materials. They specifically focused on the issue of how infants and toddlers go through clothing at a rapid rate. Reading about this trend made me ponder, not only do these young children go through clothing at a hasty rate but also the amount of diapers they use has to compete.

My idea was to implement some of the C2CAD proposals into diapers. The absorbent pad in diapers is held in place by nonwoven fabric sheets traditionally made of silk, cotton, polyester and wool that interlock in loops. I think the absorbent pad made from organic cotton would be very effective for a diaper and organic cotton is grown without harmful chemicals so that the diapers can be deposited back into the water or soil without harming the environment. One positive of organic cotton is that it is shown to be considerably stronger which is necessary for a diaper. Another reason is that organic cotton is has a much higher elongation, which will help the diaper from deforming when a child has gone to the bathroom.