The production and disposal of all fabrics have an impact on the environment. Ask the pupils to look at the following site.
- Sustainable Technology Education Project; eco-friendly fashion [external link: article]
- TRAID: Environment Overview [external link: article]
We each throw away on average 30kg of textiles a year. Most goes to landfill and only a third to charity shops. Using the list of materials from the Characteristics of Material section, ask pupils to think about which fabrics would decay if buried in the ground. What is the environmental impact of all this waste, what can we do to reduce it? Explore methods of reusing and recycling fabrics and ask pupils to bring in old clothing and fabric and ask each child to customise their own outfit - hold a class fashion show for the resulting outfits.
- Recycle now: Recycling Clothing [external link: article]
- Waste Online Textiles Recycling [external link: article]
- BBC Bloom: Clothing care [article]
