THE SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE
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THINGS YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU NEEDED
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Lucy Ec c
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MEET THE TEAM
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DIVIDING OPINIONS
GOOD ON YOU...
EDITORS’ LETTER To us, sustainability is not a trend. We believe sustainability should be integrated into our everyday lives. As fashion designer and activist Vivienne Westwood says “buy less, choose well, make it last”. As a collective our aim by creating The Sustainability Issue, was to create a platform to show what sustainability means to us. It is our hope that the content will encourage our readers to start making small steps towards sustainable living, using the variety of tips and information inside this 13th edition of Show Off magazine. The Fashion Team worked to create the images which feature throughout the magazine with sustainability as the driving force. All the clothing, props and other sourced items were done so sustainably, it was important to the Fashion Team to show what can be created using second hand and foraged items. We hope you enjoy the insight into BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion and how we as a course are finding solutions to improve our sustainability, whilst not compromising our creative freedom.
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HOW TO SUSTAIN A PLACEMENT
CLIMATE CHANGE... THE UNKNOWN
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DOING OUR BIT
WHO TO FOLLOW
THINGS YOU NEVER
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18 products to help you on your way to sustainability
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Stamp it out
Environmental. Period
Weight lifted
Still stylish, but guilt free with these Veja vegan trainers. (£115, soletrader.co.uk)
With this menstrual cup you can be environmentally friendly. Period. (£39, letsnixit.com)
You don’t have to destroy the planet to get from A to B with this Roka Finchley bag. (£65.95, trouva.com)
Blow it away
The zero waste stick
Wipe and Wash
Ditch your disposables, which are hard on the environment and replace them with this stylish alternative handkerchief. (£9.50, etsy.com)
Being eco-friendly has never smelt better with your ‘Nature’ natural deodorant stick. (£7.95, ecobeau.co.uk)
Ditch the single use disposable pads and grab these eco–friendly alternatives. (£14.99, hello-body.co.uk)
Coffee that
The bag life
Superb spork
Convenience is everything and everything about this Stojo collapsible coffee cup is convenient. It is designed to go everywhere with you. (£9.99, amazon.co.uk)
This lightweight, reusable shopper bag will change your mind before buying a plastic alternative. (£1.55, amazon.co.uk)
With this organic spork you will never be reaching out for the disposable plastic cutlery again. (£3.50, andkeep.com)
THOUGHT YOU NEEDED...
Brush it out
Cut your waste
Pink ‘n’ Shurple-y’
Whilst caring for the environment you’re also caring for your hair with this Phillip Kingsley hairbrush. (£20, johnlewis.com)
Give plastic the middle finger with this zero waste cutlery pack. (£14.50, wearthlondon.com)
Shlurple collapsible drinking straw Buy a shlurple save a turtle! (£12.24, wearthlondon.com)
Waste not
Eton mess
Shave it away
These kitchen towels by ‘Who Gives A Crap’ can handle the toughest spills. They make eco friendly toilet paper too! (£14, amazon.co.uk)
Being vegan is a treat with these candy kitten gourmet sweets. (£3, candykittens.co.uk)
The naked necessities naked razor is necessary in your zero waste journey. (£26.99, wearthlondon.com)
A simple change
Swabs with a purpose
Look no further for your perfect drinking partner! Here is your MIU reusable bottle. (£7.12, amazon.co.uk)
These bamboo cotton swabs by ‘The Humble Co’ are both sustainable and charitable. (£1.99, hollandandbarrett.com)
Short change Try this bamboo toothbrush, which is biodegradable and has softer bristles than any toothbrush you have ever tried before. (£2.50, mabboo.com)
Written by Chloe Procter
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GOOD ON YOU... How sustainably do you shop?
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Fast fashion has been in the spotlight since the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 and more recently due to documentaries such as Stacey Dooley’s Fashions Dirty Secrets. Fast Fashion is known as clothing, which is made quickly and cheaply to follow trends. This type of fashion often gets disposed of as quickly as it is made. Although you may be aware of the damaging effects fast fashion has on the environment, do you really know its impact? Good On You, is a fashion brand rating app, which analyses information from all companies to come up with easy to understand scores on how damaging some brands can be on the environment. Emma Watson is an avid supporter and user of the app, in which they rate brands as; ‘We Avoid’, ‘Not Good Enough’, ‘It’s A Start’, ‘Good’, and ‘Great’. Here is what the Good On You app says about some of the most popular brands…
According to Good On You, some brands are hardly helping the environment, some are even withholding their environmental information from you. Missguided may benefit your bank account but is definitely not doing the same for the environment. They are disguising the details that they give out about their environmental policies and additionally they are using wool, leather, and exotic animal hair in their products. This next one might come as a shock to some, Vivienne Westwood is rated among the ‘Not Good Enough’. Although as a brand they have recently been using eco-friendly materials, there is not much information to show how the brand is taking action to eliminate its use of hazardous chemicals or reduce water consumption. Prominent high-street brands River Island and Topshop, along with designer labels Dior, and Chanel are also in this category. ‘It’s A Start’ shows the brand is on its way to improving how they run things. These brands tend to be a part of something called the ‘Better Cotton Initiative’, which is a non-profit organisation that promotes better standards for cotton farming. Many of these brands have made promises to take action to reduce how much water they use and their volume of waste, but are yet to clarify when they hope to achieve these targets by. H&M have recently started to make their brand more environmentally friendly, by allowing shoppers to donate a bag of unwanted clothing and in return receive a voucher
This organisation is actively working to ensure the industry as a whole causes no unnecessary harm to the environment and has a positive impact on people and communities. Unlike a lot of other big fashion houses, Burberry have made amazing progress toward making the brand more sustainable. It’s a member of both the ‘Better Cotton Initiative’ and the ‘Leather Working Group’, which was formed by a group of like-minded businesses who have developed a specific protocol to make the manufacturing process of leather better for the planet. If you thought that was good, they have also set a science based target to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by a massive 95% by 2022. Stella McCartney is another great example of a luxury brand doing its part too. From their use of eco-friendly materials, having a strategy set in place to reduce water throughout their entire supply chain, through to having approved targets in place to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the brands above are household names but there are smaller independent eco brands which are doing their bit and are worth a mention too such as Gary Mash, Mud Jeans, and Know The Origin.
to spend in store or online. They have set targets to get rid of dangerous chemicals from their production by 2020. Other brands such as ASOS, Bershka, and Zara also fall into the ‘It’s a Start’ category. And here we have it, the brands that are leading the industry when it comes to changing the way they are running things. Although there are still areas these brands can work on to improve further, what they have achieved so far is pretty impressive! For example, Adidas are not just a part of the ‘Better Cotton Initiative’ they are one of the founding members of it, along with the ‘Sustainable Apparel Coalition’ too.
To find out more about other brands, check out the ‘Good On You’ app, which is available to download online or on the App Store free of charge.
Written by Sarah Anders
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DIVIDING I started with ‘Before The Flood’ by Leonardo DiCaprio. This documentary introduced me to the widely shared view that humans are causing climate change, covering industries such as fashion, energy and food. The documentary focused in particular on fossil fuel and burning forests causing green houses gasses. DiCaprio says the reason the general public don’t know that fossil fuels are doing so much harm, is because the governments invests in them and want to protect the industry by denying that humans are having an impact. After seeing what fossil fuels and the companies that produce them are doing to the planet this leads me to question, “is this where the problem ends”? Next up, I watched ‘A Plastic Ocean’ on Netflix. Unlike some reviews suggest, I wouldn’t say this documentary was one sided. You are shown visually what plastic is doing to your body and the eco-system, which we need as it supports life. At this point I was converted. Getting rid of plastic would solve the world’s problems, right? This got me thinking, where can you go in the world to escape plastic and what can we do about it?
Global warming is an issue that divides opinions; I was keen to find out more. To research for this article I watched numerous documentaries covering wide-ranging topics surrounding sustainability, such as meat farming, ocean plastic and climate change.
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I found this documentary was encouraging and informative, they want you to speak up and shift your behaviour. For example, telling your local supermarket that you don’t want all the plastic they produce. Try taking it back to the store, or leaving it at the till when you pay. If we stopped demanding and producing so much plastic would the climate change crisis slow down and eco-systems flourish?
I wanted to look at the meat industry because I’ve heard meat production has a part to play too. I found ‘Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret’. It begins with Kip Andersen, who created the documentary recalling how he was, like many of us, doing as he was told, recycling and taking shorter showers, but began to question, “why isn’t the problem getting better”? Initially after conducting research on the leading environmental organisation websites, he found the usual, recycle and use less paper. However, after some further digging, agriculture he found, was a major contributing factor to the climate crisis. But why wasn’t this information easy to find? Was it true?
“why we are not stopping this?” Again, the response suggests that businesses are controlled by the industry. They don’t want to be seen to be telling people what to eat, with the potential of upsetting large groups of customers who may not be responsive to changing their habits.
Scientists backed up Andersen’s research. He then approached Greenpeace, WWF, Oceana and Amazon Watch and asked what they think is the biggest contributor to climate change. They all gave different answers, but none mentioned agriculture. When confronted, they all respond in a similar way; gulping, stuttering and even laughing. I was shocked.
He confirms it is happening fast, reaching a tipping point of no going back. Soon we will be responsible for permanent damage and to fix it he says, “we can’t be radical enough.” Do you believe him? Attenborough voiced his opinions in parliament, stating that there is a way of, “shifting people’s lifestyles”, but the “government must be on that side with the public, carrying us towards the shift”.
The documentary summed up that these are big businesses and they don’t want to admit the issue of intensive meat farming, telling people they must change what they eat, otherwise who is going to invest in them? This gives the impression we are being lied to just to keep business ticking along as normal. Now I was drawn in and I wanted to look further into this industry. I watched ‘Meat: a threat to our planet’ which confirmed for me what had previously been suggested. Liz Bonnin said, “I don’t think the general public have any idea of what is going on”. The journalist asked,
During my research, I had to consider that these documentaries could be bias; all trying to defend what they think is the truth. Sir David Attenborough, one of the leading voices on climate change, recently made a documentary called ‘Climate Change – The Facts’. During his career, he has quite literally seen the planet change for the worse.
With many different views, the common theme seemed to reflect that big businesses and the governments who are on their side are causing significant damage to the planet by not addressing poor practices across many industries. We as the public have a responsibility to do our own research and hopefully our collective voices will be heard. Written by Lucy Eccleston
OPINIONS 9
CLIMATE CHANGE...
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THE UNKNOWN 50,000 square miles of forest is destroyed each year by the meat and dairy industry. To put this into perspective this is like losing 50 football pitches each minute [1]. You do not need to give up meat completely, why not try Vegetarian or Vegan Mondays? There are already 600,000 vegans on board in the UK and soon to be a quarter of the world by 2025 [2]. Lots of affordable options are now appearing in our supermarkets and even fast food chains.
2 The average person ingests 5 grams of plastic particles each week which is the equivilent of a credit card [5]. Right now there are more microplastics in the ocean than stars in the milky way [6]. 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean yearly,, which is an enough to cover every foot of the coastlines worldwide with five full bin bags of plastic [7]. Ways we can help reduce this is to cut down on using plastic containers and airing your clothes between washes to reduce synthetic fibres entering the water.
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In the UK alone we are wasting £1.3 billion per year on electric wasted in our households by keeping our switches and plugs on whilst not in use [3]. We have all been there, your in a rush, you unplug your phone from its charger but leave the switch on. Turning your plug off at the wall could save you on average £30 a year [4].
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Take away packaging causes 269,000 tonnes of plastic yearly [8]. This accumulates to the weight of 1345 blue whales. Could you consider what take away you choose because let’s be honest, we are students and we eat a few! Pizza usually comes in a cardboard box which is easily recycled. Could this be your new go to takeaway?
By 2050 London may be under water due to greenhouse gasses warming up the planet which is causing the ice caps to melt. Even as soon as 2040 the Arctic could have its first free ice summer. This water causes the sea levels to rise over land [9]. Could this destroy where you live? Simple things like recycling, driving less or even cutting down your non-recyclable waste could make an impact to cut down your greenhouse gasses.
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[1] Plantswithapurpose.net, [2] Vegansociety.com, [3] The Telegraph, [4] Moneysupermarket.com, [5] The Telegraph, [6] Sciencenewsforstudents.org, [7] Oceanconservancy.org, [8] Earthday.org, [9] The Evening Standard
Climate change, the global issue on everyone’s radar. Experts say we have approximately 1 1 years to make changes before the damage to the planet will be irreversible...
HOW TO SUSTAIN A PLACEMENT
Are you struggling to decide whether a placement is for you? We caught up with returning final year students to get the lowdown. When starting something new, we all consider if that thing is right for us. We question, “what if it goes wrong”? Being second year students on the BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion course means we are approaching the key moment to decide if and where we should go on placement. With this decision facing us, we were curious to know what challenges we could encounter and how beneficial it is to our future careers.
What challenges did you come across and how did you overcome them? As second year students we were curious to know what challenges we could face when out on placement. When speaking to the final year students they shared some of their biggest challenges. Tameshia Ferguson explained that deadlines were a big challenge because she wanted to, “ensure her job was done well,” in the time she had. She overcame this by asking her team for help and advice. Having opened up and had these conversations Tameshia felt much happier at work. Jess Stone commented that initially, “I didn’t enjoy placement, as I felt out of my comfort zone”. Jess really felt the differences between University and placement in regards to how much creative freedom she could have within projects she was working on. A positive she found from this however, is that she only had one role to focus on, instead of conducting a whole project on her own as she would at University. Jess soon settled in and has enjoyed her time out in industry so much, that she’s now staying on with the brand part time!
What was the thing you learnt the most whilst out in industry? Out of the final years we spoke to, they all mentioned that they learnt things they never even considered they would learn while out on placement. Tameshia learnt that, “just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask for help”. This reassures me, as someone who is looking to go on placement because I
have felt worried about the prospect of being faced with something I don’t know how to do yet. Tameshia felt quite nervous to ask for help when she started but then a couple of months in, she became more confident in herself. Jess learnt to have real confidence in herself in the workplace. This is important because as a fresh mind in the industry you will bring new ideas. Charley learnt, “how to be professional,” and conduct herself, “in a working environment”. This helps you make a good impression and really sets you up for the future. I found from talking to final years that you need to make the most out of your placement year and gain as much experience as you can to learn these transferable skills too.
What was your favourite part of your sandwich year? Everyone we asked enjoyed placement and got a lot out of it. A common favourite was meeting people who they are still friends with today and building up their network in industry. The opportunities they were offered sounded amazing too. Jess never expected to be chosen to go to events and she found it very rewarding that her ideas were being executed in photoshoots. Everyone also loved being part of a team because it meant they could use all their qualities in the best way possible. Charley feels likes her work is, “much more polished because of my year in industry,” which no doubt will help in final year. From the answers we received back from the final year students, I found that one of the most important things to take from placement year if you choose to do it, is to make the most of the year and try to gain as much experience in networking, growing your skills, trying new roles and most importantly, continuing to learn. Written by Chloe Procter
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DOING OUR BIT “UCLan is committed to implementing environmental sustainability to benefit the future generations” Here at the University of Central Lancashire sustainability is a fundamental focus within the University’s values. UCLan pride themselves on covering a variety of environmentally sustainable elements including waste recycling, buildings, teaching and travel. To learn more about how sustainability has been integrated into the BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion course, I spoke with course leader Eve Astle...
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“I don’t think of sustainability as a trend. I think it should be a given,” comments Eve. “It’s easy to think you are doing it, but sustainability covers a massive range of elements. There is a shift in people starting to care more, it’s also ‘cooler’ to care more.” The brands that are shouting out about sustainability are empowering consumers to change. With sustainability becoming even more of a growing concern globally, Eve explains some of the challenges we face being sustainable whilst also remaining creative. “From an academic point of view,” Eve explains, there‘s a danger that we fall into the trap of only creating digital work. “Humans communicate on so many more levels than just digital, such as touch that comes down to paper choice, materials and how things feel so we still need to explore those choices to make you better designers and creatives. Equally we appreciate that this can make you feel like you’re being wasteful”. So how do we get the best of both, without feeling like we must compromise one or the other? “Over time we have introduced more digital outputs to this course, moving away from use of materials,” for example digital sketchbooks. “We’re trying to find a good balance of what we need to do to be responsible but also allow you to be creative. We are good at keeping hold of things, so I will keep hold of sketch books, pens and equipment, anything we think another student may make use of we keep. We encourage students to return anything they haven’t used that they may want to donate to other students too”. As a course we have amazing resources in many forms
including clothes, accessories and a prop wardrobe, “which is donated from sources such as New Life, Boohoo and our own students over the years”. Many students before enrolling on to the BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion course may not be fully aware of sustainability or how they can start incorporating sustainability into their work or lifestyle. Eve adds, “we are passionate about building projects around sustainability. As students you are going out into the industry and will help shape future businesses. It’s key for us that the briefs and projects push you to consider what is happing outside in the world”! From talking with Eve, I have gained insight into many of the positive steps that BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion have taken to consider sustainability, whilst still allowing us to be fully creative in a tactile way. I didn’t realise how challenging it can be or how much sustainability is considered within the course as a whole. It makes me proud to think that we are part of course that is actively trying to integrate sustainability and I’m excited to see what is next as this topic becomes so increasingly significant in our lives.
Written by Rebecca Corns
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WHO TO FOLLOW? We have compiled some of our favourite eco-friendly bloggers, who might inspire you get stuck into sustainability.
Lauren Singer - TIFT (Trash is for Tossers) Lauren is a sustainable blogger who uses hacks to reduce the amount of waste she products in her day to day life for anything from composting to toothpaste recipes no matter who you are you can get stuck in. check out her blog to start your zero-waste journey. Web: www.trashisfortossers.com Instagram: @trashisfortossers
Kate Arnell - Eco Boost Kate is a London based blogger sharing tips and tricks on how to give your unwanted items a zero-waste makeover. If you love customising and giving items a new lease of life, Kate is the one for you. Web: www.eco-boost.co.uk Instagram: @Kate_arnell
Hendrick Kaiser – Zero Waste Man The ‘Zero Waste Man’ believes he is doing his part sharing the passion he has for the environment. Full of humour, Hendrick’s aim is to make the subject a little lighter, adding convenience too; so there no excuse but to be sustainable. If you think sustainability is boring, then the ‘Zero Waste Man’ is waiting to change your mind. Web: www.zerowasteman.com Instagram: @0wasteman Jennifer Nini - Eco Warrior Princess Jennifer Nini has created an eco-empire, which shows you how to live your life in a greener way. ‘Eco Warrior Princess’ cover all issues from sustainable fashion, environmental issues, conservation, politics, eco-beauty, tips, and green technology just to name a few. They have something for everyone. Even if blogs aren’t your thing, there’s a podcast series hosted by Jennifer, who regularly interviews guests from all different sustainable lifestyles. Web: www.ecowarriorprincess.com Instagram: @ecowarriorprincess
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CONTRIBUTORS Fashion Allison Orr, Charley Parr Photography David Schofield, Georgia Grierson Makeup Isabel Toro Models Krystal, Jumana Al-Gaafreh, Cathy Ajalo, Dilyana Gavrailova Special Thanks Hollie Spade, Samantha Grayer, Amanda Odlin, Eve Astle, Nicola Palmer, Chris Hodge, Sarah Parker, UCLan Textiles Design, UCLan Technical Staff, Jessica Tresadern, Daniel Hitchings, Tameshia Ferguson, Jess Stone, Charley Cross, West One Signs, Forsyth & Steele, Preston Industrial Plastics (PIPS).
BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion Course Leader - Eve Astle emastle@uclan.ac.uk 01772 893188
Web: www.uclan.ac.uk Instagram: @uclanfashionpromotion Facebook: @uclanfashprom
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