Cyclical Shopping

Living in a world that is full of waste can cause many problems. We are depleting both our natural and man-made resources because we are not careful about the things we use, and whether or not we really need them. If we are aware of the waste, and have convenient ways to recycle waste, we will have a much better way to efficiently use our resources. The metabolism that I plan on utilizing for my idea, is the technical cycle. This cycle uses technical resources over and over again to be recycled and redirected with a new purpose.

The idea that I have is to create a type of online store that offers repurposed clothing on an individual basis. To begin with, the customer would go onto the website, and order a shirt for example. The shirt would arrive to them in a sustainable, reusable package that they would save. When they are done with the shirt, and have worn it out they will put the shirt back into the package, and send it back to the company. Once the shirt arrives back into the factory, it will be cleaned, dyed, fixed and turned into a new product, then sent back directly to the customer in the same packaging. This will eliminate any type of waste associated with packaging, and also the waste of the t-shirt. If the customer no longer wants a product from the same materials, they will be credited a percentage back onto their account, and they will be able to order a new product.

Living and Loving Local

Many of the environmental issues in the apparel design industry deal with the transportation of goods. The amount of energy and pollution that come from the freight are making an awful impact on our environment. When considering a solution to this problem, it is obvious that clothing needs to travel much shorter distances to the consumer. In evaluating the concepts of Industrial Ecology, we look closely at two concepts: Run on information, and Shop Locally. Many people are interested in shopping locally, and doing their part in helping our environment, but they are completely ignorant to how they need to go about doing this. Kate Fletcher goes as far as to say that, "Localism is the antidote to unsustainabilty." However, if the consumers are not aware of how and where to get items that they usually find online or in large markets, they won't purchase locally. This brings me to the next concept of running on information. Though this concept deals with the knowledge of the manufacturers and designers being in sync with each other and helping each other produce more sustainable goods, we can also take it a step further and involve the consumer in the process of knowledge sharing. 

I work as a seamstress for a small, local design company in Perkins, OK. All of the labor is local, and the owner is running a very successful company that is shipping nationwide. Although she does some selling locally, most of her work is shipped out to other states because many people are unaware that she is there. My idea is to form a website that serves as a search engine for local production. You would be able to type in your location, a certain radius you would be willing to drive, and what type of product you are looking for. The businesses and designers would have a list of requirements they have to meet to prove that they are a local, sustainable business. Local businesses would also have a way to interact with each other to help in any way necessary. Bradley Quinn discusses the benefits of local businesses and artisans banding together and forming communities to promote sustainability. This way businesses would be more attracted to local and sustainable production and consumers would have access to a large amount of information, and they would no longer have any excuses to not shop locally!