Creating a climate for change

Climate change is everybody’s business.  We have lived experience of it, with extreme weather events now taking a physical, monetary and emotional toll on society. We have a profound obligation to act. If we don’t, future generations would be justified to look back and say ‘what were those people thinking – consuming and amusing themselves without thought for the future’.

We are in a climate emergency. It is not hyperbole. World scientists are ratcheting up their pleas for politicians to act and Mother Nature is speaking loudly with record heat waves (most recently in Europe), bushfires, storms and floods, and coral bleaching.

The frequency of extreme weather events has increased and global economic losses from these events in the past two years is estimated at $653 billion, according to insurance giant Aon. The UN estimates the world could see 1 billion climate migrants as their food and water supplies are impacted. This is not someone else’s problem, it will affect us all.

We know that climate change is real, because we have seen it and felt it. Of the hottest locations on Earth on January 24 this year, 91 were in Australia. Rain dumps in north Queensland led to massive flooding in Townsville and the loss of 600,000 cattle. There were catastrophic fires in central Queensland rainforest.

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A conscious maker – Paisley Park

Paisley Park was raised to be conscious of all that surrounds her, including food, clothing, impacts on people and the environment. As a child her clothes were either made by her mother, hand-me-downs or from charity shops. She was never been interested in fashion, and the idea of creating comfortable practical clothing that can be worn for years appeals greatly.

Paisley Park in the dress she created from cotton offcuts for The Slow Clothing Project

Paisley Park in the dress she created from organic cotton offcuts for The Slow Clothing Project. Photo by Jo Hammond.

“I am fascinated by neuropsychology and also its impact in regards to sociology so I could write a book on my perspective of consumerism. In short though, we need to be educating the younger generations and allowing them access to develop empathy over the way that things in our lives are created from growing food, to the production of our power, electronics and clothing to name a few,” Paisley said.

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Ministry of Handmade – Julie Hillier

Julie Hillier finds such pleasure in making things that she has turned it into her life’s work – creating the Ministry of Handmade as a family business to share skills and the joy of making.

Julie Hillier in Audrey dress horizontalShe has sewn just about everything … jeans, pants, dresses, tops, coats, children’s clothes, bow ties, men’s shirts, men’s trousers, quilts, curtains, doona covers, pillows, tents, hats, bags. She’s recovered lounge chairs, dining chairs and worked on other upholstery projects.

“As a sewing teacher I am very one-eyed about sewing! I view it as a basic life skill like cooking, knowing how to hang a picture on a wall, how to grow things in the garden and make simple repairs to household items that are broken. As someone who has never followed fads and trends, I have always set my own style with my clothing and tried to minimise what I spend on my wardrobe by being a maker,” said Julie, who is based in Brisbane Queensland.  Continue Reading →

Towards a sustainable clothing story

People use double the clothing they did two decades ago, with average global apparel fibre consumption* rising from 7 kilograms each in 1992 to 13 kilograms per person in 2013.

This has occurred as part of a transformational shift in the way we source clothing and the substance from which those clothes are made. Most clothing is now produced in factories for global supply chains and two-thirds of it is made using synthetic fibres derived from petroleum, according to Jane Milburn of Textile Beat.

During this National Recycling Week (9-15 November), Ms Milburn will discuss our clothing story as guest speaker at the Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Sustainable Cities 2015 Awards in Brisbane on November 13. The awards are running in tandem with the Recreate handmade market and Paper Fashion Parade in King George Square.

Global apparel fibre consumption vs population growth Continue Reading →