In World 21, many have embarked on redesigning little parts of the system and the apparel industry no longer sees textile off-cuts as waste. This world has found intelligent ways to separate fibres into their virgin materials again, and attained an increase in fibre recycling.
By collaborating with other sectors, such as the paper industry, it is now possible to minimise textile waste and create non-woven materials with new uses. A higher material understanding was gained through including waste management practices in the educational system. Having found the definite end of life point of a garment, accomplished a better use of the materials characteristics before it can biodegrade, without having concerns for further harming the environment.
What if …
textiles could learn from paper?
Issue targeted:
Textile waste is a known problem of the apparel industry. This fiction in particular targets the off-cuts and threads (pre-consumer waste), that often go right into a waste stream and are either piling up on landfill or get burned. Being identified as ‘waste’ often leaves not much room for imagining other opportunities.
Inspiration:
In times where textiles were rare goods, material was used for a long time, saving as much resources as possible. With industrialisation, the industry was able to produce faster and materials were wasted with less consideration. The art of papermaking inspired me to make use of already wasted resources. To facilitate a true, sustainable change, I am convinced that redesigning a small part of our out-dated system could potentially inspire bigger change within the apparel industry and beyond.
This World was contributed by Julia Siegler (located in Germany) using a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence which allows others to share and adapt the work in any medium and for any purpose, providing that they credit the author and share their material using the same Creative Commons licence.
Does this World remind you of something?
I am keen to hear about any historical or contemporary real-world examples – whether individual practices, subcultures or mainstream activities – that this fiction brings to mind.
Please share any such examples using this form. Thank you!