Category: Sustainable Fashion

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“Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design.”

Name: Mehr Un Nisa Javed 

Date: 10th March’2019

Professor: Nimrah Syed 

Objective: Reading Response to Allie Gullingsrud and Lewis Perkins’ “Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design”

Reading Response:

I really liked this reading because although I have come to know by the last few  readings that our industry is extremely unsustainable but I got more evidences of it through this reading which would be quite helpful for my final project and I also really appreciate how the authors stated that there are possible solutions for the large magnitude of the environmental impacts of the fashion industry such as â€śCradle to Cradle”. 

I really liked how McDonough and Braungart put forward an approach through which there could be great industrial efficiency could be achieved and the companies would do production in a way which would be actually beneficial for the environment. “We see a world of abundance, not limits.” (p,295). They then put forward some examples to support the point such as “Factories that produce by-products that are high-quality drinking water” (P,295). I really liked this idea and for sustainable fashion and I believe it goes with the idea of slow fashion where the things are produced in less amount so that they are of such as good quality that their replacement wouldn’t be needed until a few years. Also, in our daily lives we should adapt this and make use of the resources. For example, the building next to the AB (where there is StarBucks) has a green roof and it is quite beneficial because it reduce stormwater runoff, it is energy efficient, improve air quality, can serve as habitat and last longer. This shows that if while thinking about the business we also think about the planet it wouldn’t be just beneficial for the environment but in long term it would have a positive impact on us as well. I feel liked the same type of green roof should be for NYUSH as well so that we can start the sustainability practice from our School. 

Note: Not a late submission. accidentally submitted this to my other IMA class blog site which is not on IMA Dashboard. 

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Week 4 reading response

I found this week’s reading extremely eye opening. The author states, whenever we think about sustainability in fashion or in general we tend to only think of “zero impact”. However, she points out whatever we produce WILL have an impact. This makes sense and she points out that this impact actually can be positive. For example she mentions the cradle-to-cradle approach, which means that “everything is food” so that everything can be upcycled unlimited times. 

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W5: “Sustainable Consumer Behavior” – Eva

For a recent research project I had chosen to investigate the increasing pollution in the perimeter of the Republic of China. I am in an on-going evaluation how China is dealing with it’s ecological concerns, and the article “China’s Sustainable Fashion Paradox” introduced a new perspective into my analysis. Just as Kostadinova stresses that “One of the main criticisms towards green consumerism is that it exacerbates the problem of overconsumption by reducing consumers’ guilt as they feel they are taking some pro-environmental action”(230); it suggests that the methodology of informing /or raising awareness/ to the general public has not reached its potential peak as so many still do not understand the concept of sustainability.  Alternatively, those who do understand don’t necessarily contribute, which to an extent is an even larger issue than ignorance. Comprehending that ‘sustainability’ is not just a ‘reduction in the intensity of consumption'(231) is an essential step in overcoming this first obstacle. It is also interesting to consider that the first step towards problem solving becomes an obstacle later down the line, or at least something that needs altering. I am really involved in understanding Design Thinking, as I see its application to be very universal in targeting options for concerns as large as the ecology. Through gaining understanding, I am able to move towards ‘action’ in my behaviour, which is not the most common response to knowledge these days. This raises questions: Why do I feel this way? How could more people be involved in the initial phases of research and consideration? 

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Week 4: Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design Perkins and Gullingsrud | Gabriel Chi

In “Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design”,  Annie Gullingsrud and Lewis Perkins approach the unsustainable industry of fashion, tackling the issues through their “Cradle to Cradle” approach. Although I understood how unsustainable the fashion industry was, after reading this paper, I realised how many changes are actually necessary to change our unsustainable ways. A quote I found extremely thought provoking was, “Is it possible for sustainable fashion to be beautiful and good for the planet?” (294) .  I personally believe that there is a general stigma against sustainable fashion, especially that it will never be “as good”  as we normally produce. However, this is not the case. When watching the documentary “The Next Black” I was introduced to a plethora of different sustainable forms of fashion, all with their unique charm and aesthetic beauty. For example, the kombucha/ scobi based dresses and garments are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also are an innovative new way to create garments. I believe by pushing messages of sustainable fashion’s aesthetic beauty and benefits to the environment in parallel, will be the underlying force that pushes the general public towards a more sustainable industry and lifestyle. 

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Week 4: Response to Gullingsrud & Perkins – Tiger (Syed)

Date: 03-10-2019

Response to Allie Gullingsrud and Lewis Perkins’ “Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design®”

When William McDonough and Michael Braungart cam up with the idea of “Cradle to Cradle Design”, according to Gullingsrud and Perkins, “many designers thought of it as a turning point in their careers.” From that we could imagine how new and different the idea sounded back then. Basically, it’s all about circularity: everything in the environment falls into either the biological or technical metabolism. One of the three major principles that McDonough and Braungart put forward are very interesting: “Everything equals food.” Using the instance of a cherry tree, Gullingsrud and Perkins demonstrates how everything that’s considered worn out and useless could end up being useful something else.

As a student worker at IMA Equipment Room, I’m reminded of the situation of the little cardboard room that we have, opposite to Classroom 818. Ideally, it should work like this: students take apart their projects, from which they identify what could possibly be reused, and along with their unused materials, it’s all placed orderly in the cardboard room, waiting for somebody to recycle for their next project. But in reality, the room doesn’t work well. For a long time, it’s become a place where students left their unwanted stuff – all of it – they basically treat it as the “IMA landfill”. Because of that the room has been highly unorganized, consequently people having trouble finding what they need there. The room ends up a mess – new rubbish is put into the room every day, but hardly do people take things from it. (At the end of the day it’s we student workers that are cleaning it up :\)

I do believe McDonough and Braungart when they say “everything is food”, but if people actually want it to work that way, it’s a different story. There needs to be a regulated system, where waste are turned into new materials. Rules need to be made for people to know how to make their waste useful for the next person – because waste doesn’t magically become food, and there is a process. For example, a cardboard box could be recyclable, unless it is torn into all kinds of shapes of pieces and has sticky grossy tapes all over – that way, nobody wants to recycle it. That’s why students should tear down and throw away the tapes on it, cut off the parts that are unlikely to be reused, and then put it in the room. Besides, the room needs to be organized, things placed in order, so people know where to put one thing and where to get another.