This weeks reading was one that was interesting and could apply to everyone. Cradle to cradle was very catching to me due to how a material is made and produced to return back to the biological cycle.  The item being composed by the soil makes it easy to just throw the item on the ground and it decomposes. I agree with how plastics are a huge problem because it isn’t able to decompose naturally. I have noticed in my life I use tons of items that are plastic and these items are the ones that need to be decomposed naturally. I know I am not the only consumer that uses a lot of items that are bad for the world. If designers would design products that are used on an every day basis like soap bottles, milk cartons, and toothpaste they could see the importance of having items that can be recycled into the biological cycle. This would solve a lot of the problems with the landfill issues and everyone would be contributing without even changing their lifestyle.

How I can contribute in my field would be being knowledgeable about fabrics that can decompose naturally. This would be a great contribution to the fashion industry if more clothes were made to do that. Also like Dr. Armstrong said in her PowerPoint with the down cycling and up cycling with reusing underwear as rags. Both of these cycling processes are great for the fashion industry in down cycling with jute, wool, and acrylic can be turned into anything. I also gained more insight with watching the Patagonia video on how they contribute to sustainability. I was familiar with the brand but didn’t know how their manufacturing process was so good for the environment.  Purchase your products from there, once it has reached then end of its lifecycle the consumer brings it back in and Patagonia breaks the fiber down and creates a new item with it. This was awesome for me to hear that retailers in the fashion industry are being sustainable in a very efficient way.  Learning this has made me want to work for a retailer that uses this process when they manufacture clothing.

When our guest speaker started talking about the G-diaper this was something I have never heard of. It really caught my attention that this diaper can be flushed down the toilet with proper disabling it before flushing. This diaper being the first C2C qualified was an interesting fact. I couldn’t believe within 2 months the diaper is decomposed. The issue with this product is it is   very expensive with having to purchase the pad, liner, and outliner on the diaper. People using the diaper without properly tearing it up to flush it and instead place it in a plastic trash bag, they are doing no good for the environment because the diaper can not decompose in a trash bag. I know I personally would not use this diaper when I have children because it is kind of a nasty process. This is just the start of inventions and they will only get more efficient as time goes on.

From the LOLA show this week I found it interesting learning how fabric scraps are used to nurture crops. This is awesome because it cuts cost for the company and they decompose into the soil. It has made me want to research more fabrics that are being used in another way that can decompose into the soil. I also enjoy learning how Nike is dyeing their products with a water free, chemical free process. They are using Co2 in a huge compression tank to dye the merchandise. This has solved the problem with having the water that is pollute by chemicals soaping into water supply. This is a fairly new process and is very expensive but if more companies lean towards this it will be a good way to help the water supplies from getting polluted. Both of these ways are awesome ways to help better the environment.