Presenter(s): Megan Rangel-Lynch—Environmental Studies
Co-Presenter(s): Grace Kowalski, Freya Rhodes, Isaac Wasserman
Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Stoeckl, Kathryn Lynch
Session 1: Environmental Leaders ARC
The t-shirt is a clothing item that fills all people’s drawers, but when not sourced or disposed of sustainably, can have serious environmental impacts . This project aims to explain the negative environmental impacts of the fast fashion industry, a system of rapid production of on trend items using low quality materials, focused on high consumption rate . We are focusing on the t-shirt because it is a simple item almost everyone owns, and there are easy ways to use the fabric to upcycle, create new products, and reduce additional waste other products create . Our project will present alternatives to throwing away unwanted clothing items by upcycling shirts into reusable bags and plant hangers . Our tutorials provide a reusable alternative to products that create waste and ultimately emphasize a more sustainable way of upcycling items instead of buying new ones . Through researching the impacts of the T-Shirt and product alternatives such as plastic bags we will represent our research and our solutions through DIY instructional videos and an analysis of the data found from our research . By creating a video that discusses our research and gives DIY alternatives to clothing waste, we hope to educate viewers on the negative implications of buying into the fast fashion industry and prompt them to make choices emphasizing sustainability and upcycling old clothing resources .