Presenter(s): Courtney Kaltenbach
Co Presenter(s): Alli Eroh, Stella Augustine, Caitlyn Mccall, Racheal Maloney, Maggie Craven
Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Stoeckl
Poster 17
Session: Environmental Leaders ARC
We are in an age of fast fashion in which clothing is produced unsustainably on a massive scale. College campuses are where many trends develop and are expressed.While there are many opportunities to buy and sell used clothes near campus and in the greater Eugene area, there is a lack of clothing recycling and repurposing in Eugene, especially among college students. Once clothes develop holes, become stained, or become unwearable in any way, we struggle to find a use for them. We are going to create a proposal to begin a textile recycling program through the Student Sustainability Center in which there will be a permanent bin that anyone can bring any sort of textile to. We are hosting a pilot event at a freshman dorm in which we will be collecting unwanted clothing and textiles, handing out an educational zine, screening a documentary about fast fashion “The True Cost”, and leading an upcycling craft with unwearable clothes. We will use this event to collect data on the type of things donated and gauge the interest of college students with textile based activities. The goal of this project is to get students passionate about recycling their materials, specifically their clothing. We hope that through our pilot event and project proposals we will convince students and organizations around campus to lengthen the lifespan of their clothes and think critically about purchasing new garments.