In 2009 I was a young mother of a toddler and nursing a baby. Swimming in the very deep ocean of full time parenting, I found myself far away from the world of fashion. My mind still craved to be creative and designed focused so I filled my bedside table with books about the subject. Things shifted dramatically in my mind when I came across this game changer: Cradle to Cradle: Re-making the way we make things, co-authored by Michael Braungart and William McDonough. If you are a designer or manufacturer and haven’t read it, this should be at the top your reading list. When it comes to the future of fashion, I will paraphrase Stella McCartney by saying changing the way we grow and make our clothes is far more important than the next season’s color scheme or silhouette.
“In it’s simplest sense, Cradle to cradle is in counterpoint to cradle to grave.” William McDonough
In short, This book is the most important design manifesto of the 21st century. Why am I mentioning it? Because unless we the consumers are made aware of what needs to be done, the manufacturing industry will not change.
What is Cradle to Cradle and circular economy?
So what is Cradle to Cradle and why do you need to know about it? To quote McDonough, “in it’s simplest sense, Cradle to cradle is in counterpoint to cradle to grave.” (Source)
A garment is currently designed with one purpose only and it’s end of life or continuing use is not taken into consideration. We need to mimic nature and consider that something which is no longer useful needs to either return to the manufacturing source to be transformed into another product, or should be biodegradable in order to become the nutrient for something new. For example, all electronic, metal based materials should be considered technical nutrients and designed so that they can be easily disassembled and turned into another product. Clothing, because it is worn on the body, washed and therefore consumed, needs to be biodegradable, or technically made in a way that it is safe to wear and can be then transformed into something new.
Cradle to cradle, also known as circular economy, goes far beyond recycling. It wants to change the system from being linear: source – use – death into a system of abundance that renews itself constantly. This is the only design system that will allow humanity to survive and thrive on earth. Because as we know, there is no planet B.
But the beauty of the cradle to cradle vision is that it is delightfully optimistic. Just read it’s goal and you will get a better understanding: “Our goal is a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world, with clean air, water, soil and power – economically, equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed.” If anything is going to change our path, it’s going to be love and hope.
Over the past few years, a few manufacturing companies have been working hard on defining and developing what this is. You can find many of these initiatives at Fashion For Good and learn more about the circular economy through The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s initiative Make Fashion Circular.
What does a circular-made garment look like?
To give you an example of what a garment that has been designed with circular economy in mind looks like, here’s the breakdown of a sweater I designed and made for my daughter that covers 4 of the 5 Goods of cradle to cradle: Good materials (sustainably grown), good economy (profitable, long lasting), good energy (renewable energy), good water (low consumption, clean processing), good lives (fair trade, safe working conditions).
The material is 100% un-dyed Canadian wool, spun in Alberta. From this perspective, it’s good material as it’s been farmed safely and purchased at a fair price that gives the farmers a living wage. It did not pollute the water or put the workers at risk from harmful odors as it is not dyed. It was however spun on looms powered by oil-based electricity and was shipped to me by fuel powered transportation so not renewable resources. Finally, I knitted it on a manual loom. If you purchased it for 250$, it would cover the cost of the farmer’s work, the mill’s, transport and my design and labor at a fair wage, for everyone on this chain is living in Canada. This is just the sourcing and manufacturing part all done locally and it’s still not a perfect score.
Now for the design aspect. I chose this yarn because it it the highest quality mule spun yarn locally sourced. If you want to break this yarn, you need to pull hard. My daughter won’t be suffering from worn out elbows anytime soon. This means that this sweater has the potential to last for many years, and because it is knitted, it can even be unravelled and turned into a new piece if ever the design doesn’t suit her when she’s 13. That said, I did design it so that it will fit her until she is an adult. If I’m going to pay and put that much effort into making a sweater, I want it to last. I won’t tell you what temperature we keep our house at but let’s just say, even at retail price for the finished piece, the cost of this sweater would pay for itself after one or two months just from the savings on our heating bill. Hmm, another piece to the sustainable equation. So from a circular economy perspective, this garment can be remade into something else, and as it can be safely composted, It’s end of life will be to fuel new growth. This is what a cradle to cradle garment looks like.
How can consumers help build the circular economy?
I have now spent 10 years playing around with the concept of circularity and searching for ways to integrate these principles in my work. What I discovered, other than designing and making a garment from scratch, was that I have the power to transform and make the clothes I currently own last longer. Adding an appliqué such as the Love Stencil on a well loved t-shirt is one way to renew and cherish a garment that is already owned and mend using the same materials that the garment is made of so it can be transformed or composted. Making our loved clothes last, also saves precious resources used when buying new.
I encourage you to have a look at what you wear. Do your clothes answer to the cradle to cradle criteria? If so, please tell me where you shop! If not, I encourage you to ask questions and focus on circularity for your next purchases. Buy less, buy quality, buy second hand, mend so that your current goods last a long time. Better yet, try your hand at creative mending with one of my patterns. And most importantly, ask questions to the companies you buy from. The demand will drive the change, because the future is circular.