School pupils hear of fast fashion's climate folly

Jack O'Callaghan introduces the event.

A talk this morning to primary and second level Kilcullen students in the Bridge Community's Artaban Hall was designed to bring home the reality of how fast fashion is impacting the planet, writes Brian Byrne.

Given by circular economy fashion consultant Carrie Ann Moran, it was organised as part of the Bridge Camphill's Thornton Lace project for Brigid 1500. Thornton Lace was produced in Kilcullen in the 1850s as a social enterprise for local women to make money, employing some 700 women at its height.  The current project is exploring that enterprise artistically, with a number of mosaics being produced by artist Katy Palmieri which will be located at different premises in Kilcullen. 

"The mosaic we are placing in our Bridge Community is on the theme of environment," says the project's instigator Sarah Gillespie, adding that comparing the value placed on clothing in the past with attitudes today was the focus of this morning's event. "People in the past didn't have many clothes — the tailor or local seamstress made them, and they were valued."

Carrie Ann Moran's task this morning was to explain how fast fashion began, and how it has massively impacted the environment and has social impacts as well.

"We are so far removed from our clothing today," she says. "I remember fast fashion  starting, when I was young. Before that we had a value on clothing, there was fixing and mending. Clothes were never meant to be cheap, that came with outsourcing it to developing countries where labour and other costs were much cheaper."

Some 18 years ago, Carrie Ann merged an earlier training in law and a subsequent interest in fashion design to became actively involved in responsible procurement and ethical trading in the fashion industry. She advises and educates on how the fast fashion industry is substantially adding to climate change and pollution through the fast fashion model. "The anchor point is to raise people's awareness of what is going on. People don't really know that where they go and buy their clothes can have a massive impact on climate change. When they are told, they tend to find out what they can do to change things."

In a national awareness programme last year it was found that 80pc of people were not aware of these impacts, and 96pc of students particularly were willing to look at their consumption habits and 'move things around'. "There are very tangible things we can do. Just stop and think about what we're buying. Do we really need this? Will I commit to wearing it for a long time?"

This morning's talk also featured Kildare County Council's Environmental Awareness Officer Dara Wyer, and was one of three in which the mosaic project will be outlined over the coming months.

The event was introduced by Jack O'Callaghan, a service user of Bridge Camphill.

Sarah Gillespie and Carrie Ann Moran, with Orla and Sarah from Bridge Community Camphill who helped organise the event.

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