Picture News - March
What's going on this week?
MPs have called for clothing companies to pay 1p on every item of clothing they sell to fund a £35m annual recycling scheme. The so-called fast fashion is a contributor to greenhouse gases, water pollution, air pollution and over-use of water. And they are putting pressure on the government to force clothing manufacturers to pay more towards collecting and recycling the waste they create.
Green campaigners are wanting even more to be done to encourage people to move away from the fast fashion movement and to reuse clothes, buy better quality and donate old clothes to charity. The fashion industry creates jobs worldwide and is said to be worth around £30 billion to the UK economy though it comes at a cost, as it is estimated to produce as many greenhouse gases as all the planes flying in the world. The clothing trade uses huge amounts of fresh water and creates chemical and plastic pollution.
Do we have more clothes than we need?
Listen, think, share
- Read through the information and talk about our own experience of clothes. Where and when do we get clothes and what influences our choices of what we buy?
- How important is fashion to us? Can we talk about what is currently fashionable? Is important for us to wear current fashions? How do we think fashions are decided?
- A definition of the term ‘fast fashion’ is,
Inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.
- What do we think of fast fashion and do we think it’s a problem in society? Why? What do you think is the cause of it and do you think our attitudes need to change to stop it?
- Make a list of all the different times you wear different types of clothes. Are all the clothes you have necessary?
- According to the Utah Education Network (UEN) there are 5 reasons why we wear clothing, outlined below. Can you think of any others? Do you think any are more important than others?
Adornment: Added decoration or ornamentation.
Protection: Clothing that provides physical safeguards to the body, preventing harm from climate and environment.
Identification: Establishing who someone is or what they do.
Modesty: Covering the body according to the code of decency established by society.
Status: One's position or rank in comparison to others.
- What do you do with your clothes when you no longer need/want them? Do you think more should be done to encourage us to recycle our clothes?
- The image on the poster show’s retailer Marks and Spencer’s Shwopping scheme which involves taking old clothes to Marks and Spencer’s or Oxfam shops for them to be recycled or reused. Do you think it is the responsibility of retailers to encourage us to be more accountable with our clothes, or do you think it should be something that the government or charities should lead on?
Further questions for discussion
Can you think of any ideas or initiatives that would help to support the recycling of old clothes? E.g. having a ‘clothes swap’ party with friends or your local council offering a collection for clothes service like they offer for other recycling.
How do you think charging manufacturers 1p extra per item will impact the clothing industry?