‘No Waste’ has become a bit of a buzzword around the creative spaces, and many, MANY people are showing off their “no waste” fashion. While not wasting things is a great aim to have as an individual, a lot of the emphasis on individual action has been built by large companies as a method of distracting the public from their own wasteful practices.
This is all part of a movement by large companies who will use greenwashing tactics in an attempt to pretend like they actually are working towards a better environmental outcome rather than their usual pursuit of profits. It includes the adoption of recycling programs- used as a way to push the problem of waste onto the individual and blame them for the state of the world rather than it being the companies’ fault. That’s not even mentioning the fact that ‘recycling’ is almost always ‘downcycling’, making something that isn’t as good with what is being recycled and not using all of it. That’s even if the consumer is being perfect and not accidentally contaminating what is to be recycled.
While it IS important for us all to do our best with the options we have at our disposal, I think it’s essential that we give ourselves the space to be imperfect. All the perfection we can manage is barely a drop in the ocean compared to these multinational corporations and their desire to make profit over all else.
The use of the term “zero waste” can also be interpreted differently by different creatives. In some instances, people will say that a garment is zero waste because they aren’t cutting away any fabric in the shaping of the garment, while others will say that it is zero waste because the scraps of fabric being cut away in the shaping will be sent to textile recycling. Each of these minimise the amount of waste generated by creating the garment. Using upcycled fabrics (that is fabric that was used for another purpose first, such as a previous garment, or furnishings) is another way to reduce waste, as this is fabric that has already had some use before being used for the new item. This is a way of reducing waste as the fabric may otherwise have been destined for landfill if it weren’t diverted and made into a new item. Using fabrics made from recycled textiles is another way to reduce waste, as the threads used to create the fabric use fewer resources than creating new thread from scratch. These are all ways to reduce the environmental impact of creating something new.
It’s for all of these reasons that I will generally say that I work to low waste/no waste principles. This is to try to make it clear that while I am AIMING for no waste, there will be some waste, and I’m working to minimise it as much as possible. Most of the fabrics that I use are NOT made using recycled textiles, as these are usually very limited in their patterns and prints, which is an important factor in the fabrics I choose. I also prefer to use cotton as this is usually hypoallergenic and more durable, which often is not available in the fabrics made from recycled textiles. As lining fabric is not generally in close, prolonged contact with the skin, I will often use an upcycled fabric for these as a way to reduce the resource impact in my products. As patterns and prints are so important in my work, sometimes in order to have something look the best it can means there will be left over scraps of fabric that aren’t used. Fabric is often also a different width to what would neatly fit what I want to make with them. For these extra pieces of fabric, and including scraps in odd shapes from shaping garments and other items, I save most of these to make my zero waste products. Things like tote bags, pot holders, and coasters. All made from fabric that would otherwise be thrown into the rubbish bin. I also source a lot of these scraps from others. It is my own way of recycling textiles in a more resource friendly way. The resources used to make these are usually mostly my time and energy, as the time it takes to make a square of fabric from scraps that are only a couple of centimeters wide is significantly longer than the time it takes to cut the same sized square of fabric from a fresh piece.
Even when working with resin I try to find ways to reduce the amount of waste I generate from creating things, and I’m very proud of how little waste I generate in my studio. I use pre-used plastic cups to mix my resin (sourced from friends and neighbours), which all need to be washed and dried before being used. Once used, I will try to peel off any resin that has cured in the cup, so that it can be reused again and again. I also use metal stirring rods as these can be scraped free of any resin residue. I work on a silicon mat so that spilled or dripped resin can be peeled off and used in large “chaos resin” pieces. Moulds unfortunately still have a usage life, which I try to extend by using mould release agents to extend their durability. I also try to use every single drop of resin that I mix, making tiny items that can be useful (such as tiny shaker charms or mini earrings) so that no resin is wasted. This often takes more time to try to scrape out, demould, or make usable than it would be to simply leave it to cure and be disposed of. The cleaning processes for all of the items I use to mix my resin alone usually takes 4 or so hours each week, yet doing all of this is my own way of reducing the impact of what I do on the environment.
I only use a small, office sized bin in my studio, and this generally only needs to be emptied once every 4-6 weeks. For a studio where I am busy creating things almost every day of the week… It really is a very, VERY small amount of waste. It’s all part of my argument that we CAN still have fun things AND care about the environment. Wars have been fought, people have died for our access to colours, and I don’t think that we should only use brown if we care about the environment.