Down the assembly line ... to the bits of the world that are sinking

With the December UN climate change conference in Copenhagen quickly approaching, it was suggested to me that it might be appropriate take a thread of ethical fashion and start sewing a climate change patchwork.

My name is Trina. I’m a fairly recent recruit to Three Things. Having been drawn by its original and rather novel way of creating awareness of social issues, it’s now my turn to contribute and a particular area of interest is climate-induced displacement and the world's response.

By way of introduction, climate-induced displacement is the phenomenon that’s occurring worldwide. Rising sea-levels, coastal erosion and freak weather patterns are all consequences of climate-change. But what’s not so obvious is that slowly but surely, whole islands are sinking as waters rise. Sometimes, as in the case of the Carteret Islands in Papua New Guinea, this can leave a whole people homeless.

It's really happening all over the world. Flooding streets in Mumbai, for example, are just a small sign of things to come (this is a photo I shot recently in Mumbai). It's definitely a problem that belongs to the world. Check this out: http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=881

three things will be a great forum to keep up-to-date with the climate change developments in the world and to look at creative things fashion-designers and all other people are doing to take Ethical Living to the next level!

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Don't throw your clothes away!

Whatever you do, don't throw your old clothes away! Drop them off at your nearest Salvation army store or bin.

And if you're looking for some good cheap, vintage buys at the Salvation army or vinnies, I suggest paying the ones in Paddington and Surrey Hills a visit. Having volunteered at the Salvation Army store a long time ago, I remember the old ladies there lamenting to me the fact that they no longer see the occasional Chanel piece because it all goes to the city stores.

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DIY...duct tape?

Apparently Duct tape in the U.S. holds an annual competition for "prom kids" (it is a big thing over there). Some of them are really quite amazing, while the others are more on the amusing scale of things.

I'm curious, does anyone own any clothes made out of strange materials?

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Spring clean your wardrobe with exchange for change

Fashion swap parties are very popular at the moment, it's a great way to recycle your clothes and get some of those clothes off your fashionable friend that you've always wanted to have.

Oxfam is helping people host fashion swap parties thoughout September, with all the instructions and details all painfully thought out for you, so that all you need to do is send out an invite. Go here to find out more:

http://www.oxfam.org.au/events/exchange-for-change/how-does-it-work.html

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Sass and Bide and the Shine collective

Here's your feel good story for the day :)

Sass and Bide recently held an auction in the uk to sell artworks created for their shine collective project, with over $50,000 raised to help children's charities and including Barnardos in Australia. It's so good to see companies giving back to the community.
The artworks auctioned were created by celebrities, and represented what 'shine' meant to them:

go to sassandbide.com.au to see the others and find out more :)

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Chain stores putting in green links

Chain stores are notorious for getting the cheapest materials they can, using the cheapest labour they can and pummeling their stores with lots and lots of it. It's not just a problem with how these clothes are produced but what we do with these clothes after they've passed their use-by date - waste online reports than in the UK, the country that made 'high street shopping' famous, over 1 million tonnes of clothing is thrown away to land fill

I've recently been looking at a lot of online chainstore websites, wondering if they had caught on to the green trend, and while visits to Australian websites such as the Just Group, Pacific Brands or Target don't reveal any statements on whether they're even aware of their environmental/ ethical responsibilities with regards to fashion, there is encouraging movement in overseas chain stores. For example TopShop in the UK stocks capsule ranges of ethical fashion from time to time. Their Annie Greeenabelle label stocks fair trade and organic clothing (that's a 2 in 1!) that's really very cute -

American Apparel in the U.S. has a fairtrade statement on their website, stating that they promise to pay atleast the minimum wage.



Big clothing companies are beginning to recognise the wide market for ethical fashion that exists...that's encouraging right?

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Stella McCartney

This is the pic from Stella McCartney's latest fashion collection, it stars some cute disney animals and as she says on her website: "The best thing you can do to help animals is to not eat or wear them. Let others know about the abuse that animals endure and ask them to say no to meat and leather too." (That was stella's eco-tip #1 by the way)





In case you didn't know, Stella mcCartney is the daughter of Beatles singer Paul McCartney, although, she's so famous in the fashion world now that she no longer needs to be introduced as her father's daughter. She also has a capsule collection out at the moment made from organic materials, along with many little eco tips and interesting fact such as the fact that they use 100% bio-degradable corn bags that decompose within 1 year.

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goo goo ga ga cuckoo

Apparently Lady Gaga wore this as a satirical comment against the use of fur. So, the irony/satire is a little lost on me...perhaps she should just do a peta ad instead?

Although seriously, the skinning of animals used for fur is outright disgusting, especially considering that it can take the skin of many very young animals to make a fur coat - the younger the animal, the softer the fur. These animals are often "drowned, trapped, electrocuted and beaten" for their fur.

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Did you know there are currently 505 different styles of shoes for purchase on the nike website?

Here's an interesting tid-bit from vogue.uk: Big brands Nike and Adidas have declared a ban on leather goods made in Brazil as a result of a greenpeace report on the effects of cattle farming on the amazon forest. Thousands of acres of forest have been cleared in order to allow cattle farming for leather goods and meat.

Nike and Adidas have been trying to "green up" their image recently, with Nike announcing a few years back that it intended to have 5% of it's total clothing sourced from organic cotton - what about the other 95% you ask? Well, for a big manufacturer like Nike who uses so much cotton, 5% is a good start. Adidas haven't been behind in trying to catch up on green-creds, they also have a organic clothing line, not to mention regular collaborations with ethical fashion poster girl Stella McCartney.

And while it's all nice and rosy that everyone is trying to cash in on the green-trend and appeal to consumers, there is still a lot more that needs to be done. It's a shame that companies are not taking ethical working conditions to heart, choosing instead to focus on the environmental impacts which are more marketable. Oxfam Australia reports that neither commits to providing living wages for it's workers and still supress trade unions, preventing it's workers from getting better working conditions: http://www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/labour-rights/

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Feeling like D-I-Y?

I've been noticing lots of vintage scrabble tiles and keys being turned into necklaces on etsy, and it reminded me of one of my favourite stores in Surrey Hills - David Met Nicole.

It's a curiousity shop with the best collection of vintage odds and ends you can think of - Last time I was there, there was a huge bowl of vintage keyrings, and old scrabble tiles sitting near the doorway, the time before, a basket full of porcelain dolls that had been dug up from near an old doll factory.

I can't help thinking that the more artistically minded would know what to do with all of this. I went on their website (http://www.davidmentnicole.com/), and I couldn't help sharing some of the quirky things that turned up there today...

Vintage French teaching cards



1950s die-cast toy cars (there were also cogs, french bobbins, dolls...)

A medicinal drawer

French road signs that have been turned into a table

A birdcage lamp!

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