A big congratulations to Clare and Bec for winning the Highly Recommended award for Student Initiatives at this year’s Green Gown Awards.
The black tie award ceremony was held at Birmingham University’s Great Hall and it was great to see so many people from different Universities and Colleges from around the UK. The event was hosted by broadcaster and writer Simon Fanshawe who provided witty repartee for the evening.
Our project ‘A New Life For Old Pants’ talked about the amazing work which happened over the previous academic year in regard to textile recycling. Working in partnership with Traid we ran a series of workshops which focused on the recycling of textiles and unwanted clothing in various different ways. The idea was to capture the student’s imagination as to what unwanted garments could be turned into and used for as well as to make them aware of the full life cycle that clothing undertakes even after being discarded. It also focused on how the incorrect disposal of textile waste could have a negative effect on the environment.
Over the year we organised Swishing Parties, Sew Good Workshops, and lectures to our fashion students, as well as a sustainable fashion show and generally raised awareness of our onsite textile recycling banks. The results were very positive with students commenting on the way we were approaching the subject and the different workshops on offer. We really enjoyed the Sew Good Workshops where students brought along old clothes which they could then up-cycle by using lace, sequins or using the material to make completely new items!
One of the more noticeable results of this year long project has been the increased use of our textile recycling banks. We have donated over two and a half tonnes of clothing to Traid and saved almost 35 tonnes of CO2.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took part in the project and helped arrange the workshops. Keep a look out for our textile recycling projects this year!