February 28, 2011 by Cath
Celebrate Fairtrade products and find out more about how the certification benefits producers and suppliers, for products like Fairtrade cotton
“Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices (which must never fall lower than the market price), Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.”
May 14, 2010 by Hatty
Recycling Textile Technologies
A one-day workshop from 9am to 5pm, on June 14th 2010
To be held at University College London.
This one-day interdisciplinary workshop brings together those working on textile recycling across disciplines and sectors, including anthropologists, geographers, historians, designers, waste consultants and consumer researchers. Through this exchange we hope to develop a greater understanding of the underlying relationships between people and things, raw materials and technologies, the emergence of entrepreneurs and innovators in social networks, and their contextual variations. For further details, please see Recycling Textile Technologies Workshop web page.
Organisers:
Lucy Norris and Julie Botticello, Dept of Anthropology, UCL
Registration:
The registration fee covers refreshments and lunch with vegetarian options.
Waged: £25 and Unwaged/Student: £18
Please contact Julie Botticello on ucsajbo@ucl.ac.uk to reserve your place. The deadline for registration is 7th of June 2010.
April 9, 2010 by Hatty
The Global Organic Cotton Community was launched in 2009 and consists of a virtual discussion space where registered members exchange knowledge and know-how about organic cotton. The aim of the e-discussion group is to gather relevant information and to learn from one another’s experiences about the sourcing of organic cotton and fabrics.
This not only provides a fascinating insight for students and young designers interested in ethical fashion but is a fantastic medium for bringing together all interested parties in the sustainable textile and organic cotton arena to discuss and share their expert knowledge and views. The theme for this month is “How to support small brands & designers sourcing organic fabrics” - a topic very close to CSF’s heart. It’s well worth joining the discussion or to just ‘looking in’ and seeing what the participants are engaging in and talking about.
Membership is free so all you have to do is register at: http://organicexchange.org/oecms/ and you will automatically receive an invitation to join the group – a brilliant opportunity to enrich the dialogue by contributing yourself or to benefit from the ideas and information offered by other members.
Once registered you will also have access to all previous dialogues by clicking on: http://dgroups.org/Library.aspx?c=a3abfe5d-13df-4205-8609-ac237883d5e5
March 28, 2010 by Hatty
The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) have recently launched a new online database in a bid to make the process of setting up a complete organic supply chain as transparent and easy as possible.
GOTS is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain.
It is hoped that the new database will dramatically reduce the obstacles facing the 1,500 companies, certified to the organic apparel and textile standard in 2009, in the global supply chain and result in an even greater increase in certifications, and thus certified products for consumers.
The public database contains almost 400 dyeing facilities, more than 200 spinning, knitting, and weaving units, and approximately 140 printing and manufacturing facilities and will create a co-ordinated supply chain and aid businesses in working efficiently. The database is highly accessible and easy to use – check it out now at the GOTS website.
March 11, 2010 by Hatty
MADE-BY and Organic Exchange are hosting a unique 2-day intensive seminar on sustainable clothing and textiles in Stockholm, Sweden on 26-27 May, 2010.
Discussions will focus upon:
- Setting Sustainability Strategy that Fits to Your Business
- Brand & Retailer Perspective on Developing Business Case for Corporate Responsibility (CR)
- Fashion & Consumer Trends Towards Sustainability
- Eco-friendly Fabrics & Recycled Materials – understand the definition as well the sourcing and production issues
- Product Integrity – organic labeling, certification, & transparency
- Cotton Options – Organic, Fairtrade & BCI
- Responsible Processing – dyeing & finishing
- Consumer Communication
- Social Compliance – the available standards & the actual work
Seminar format
A combination of case studies, lectures, interactive clinics and panel discussions, this platform brings together experts and industry practitioners, as well providing an open and neutral ground to discuss the most burning issues, latest developments, how to address challenges and best practices on developing sustainable clothing production.
Who is it aimed at?
This seminar is especially designed for:
- Directors/CEOs
- Corporate Responsibility teams
- Buying and (Fabric) Sourcing teams
- Design teams
- Marketing and Communication teams
- Supply Chain Management teams
If you have any questions about the seminar please contact Nany Trivita Kusuma at: nany.kusuma@made-by.nl
Further information can be found at: Made-By.org and the Organic Exchange website
March 7, 2010 by Hatty
The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) are on the look out for volunteers to help with their Cotton Campaign T-shirt Project on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th March, during office hours at EJF’s London office.
Why does EJF need extra help?
Over the past 5 weeks, EJF has taken the cotton campaign to many trade shows in London and Paris to raise awareness of the issues of forced child labour and environmental abuses in the cotton industry to industry and buyers. Just last week they launched their latest report supporting the campaign called Slave Nation. EJF raise awareness and funds for the project is by selling organic cotton campaign t-shirts through the EJF website and international stores. The Foundation’s latest t-shirts are being produced as I type, and when they arrive at the offices the team need help carrying out quality control and sending the t-shirts out to the boutiques and shops that will help the organisation sell them.
What will I be doing?
General admin – Writing up contact information from people the EJF team have met whilst campaigning at London Fashion Week – Quality control of EJF new campaign t-shirts – Folding, bagging and tagging the t-shirts so they can be delivered to stores. The EJF team need 6 people per day for both these days (15th/16th March) to commit to helping from 10 – 5pm (this can be flexible). If you have friends you’d like to invite to get involved they would be welcome too. The cost of getting the campaign t-shirts organised and sent out can be really high and without the help of dedicated volunteers EJF could not do it. You will be directly contributing to the success of the cotton campaign t-shirt project, which is a major fundraiser to support our projects defending the environment and human rights.
If you are able to help please email Kat Ross: katharine.ross@ejfoundation.org .
January 24, 2010 by Hatty
Intended to start a dialogue between brands, retailers and their supply chains and lead to the broader interrogation of sustainability as a business strategy, Cotton Council International (CCI) held a two day seminar in Budapest at the end of last year and in doing so answered some of the key industry and consumer concerns about sustainable clothing and home textiles.
Both relevant and timely, given the economic climate and the increasing demand from consumers for cotton products which combine natural fibre benefits with sustainable production, organisers of the seminar explored definitions of sustainability and how to accomplish it and offered solutions to the challenges of implementing a sustainable business policy. To find out more visit www.cottonusa.co.uk
December 21, 2009 by Hatty
In the aftermath of the Copenhagen Climate Summit Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ grapples with how to calculate the Carbon Foot Print of everyday items – last week the milk industry and electrical items were under the spotlight – this week they focused on the humble cotton T-Shirt. Our very own Alex Mcintosh, Business Support Manager for the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, was invited on the programme for his expert opinion about the environmental impact of clothing. Alex spoke about the high carbon footprint involved in making one T-Shirt and urged the consumer to re-think fast and cheap fashion. Also interviewed on the programme were Mike Barry, the man behind the hugely successful M&S Plan A campaign, eco fashion specialist Continental Clothing and Ewan Murray from the Carbon Trust.
If you missed the show you can listen again at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/simon_parkes_carbon.shtml
For more info on the contributors please see:
http://www.sustainable-fashion.com/
http://www.continentalclothing.com/
http://plana.marksandspencer.com/
http://www.carbontrust.co.uk
September 9, 2009 by amucklow
The Environmental Justice Foundation is seeking interns:
The volunteer placement is to present EJF’s work and cotton campaign at
London Fashion Week (Friday 18th September – Tuesday 22nd September) and
London Fashion Weekend (Thursday 24th September – Sunday 27th September). EJF
will be engaging consumers/buyers in the work we do, and our new collection
of designer charity tees.
The event is a unique opportunity for those with an interest in Ethical
Fashion to participate in changing the way issues of fair trade and organic
are viewed in Britain.
Candidates will have the opportunity to attend the events, and will learn
key marketing, communication, fundraising and organisational skills from
tasks varying from promoting our ethical designer campaign t-shirts, to
explaining the principles behind EJFs work.
Key skills to be brought to the post include communication (in person),
confidence and approachability, as well as enthusiasm for the cause.
This unpaid position is for a minimum of 2 days for each event (either
London Fashion Week/Weekend), at the 180 The Strand, London, WC2. It is
ideal for enthusiastic candidates from London College of Fashion who are
particularly interested in sustainable fashion and would enjoy the success
of making a big difference in a short space of time.
If you could please request them to apply by sending a CV and cover letter
to :
Kat Ross cotton@ejfoundation.org<mailto:cotton@ejfoundation.org>
0207 239 3312
July 13, 2009 by amucklow
Since the CSF launched the Student Competition we’ve been thinking a lot about water. All the sunshine and talk of beach holidays has contributed too.
We know how thirsty t-shirts are, or indeed that cotton is the world’s thirstiest crop but we forget that much of our clothes water footprint can come after production and once they are snuggled into our bludging wardrobes. So the way to help is through greening our laundry practices.
We will try to:
- Turn the temperature down on our washing machines.
- Use a green detergent.
- Get a new, more efficient machine.
- Wash full loads
Don’t forget to enter the competition and highlight how important water is to us and the fashion industry.
