Waste
After attending to all the lectures of the project better lives, I realized that my way of seeing the fashion industry and my subsequent way of working would change in fields like inclusivity, diversity or sustainability. The topic of sustainability has always been a priority for me, but after learning about the impact of the industry on the planet, my efforts will be mostly dedicated to respecting the environment.
As we already know, the biggest problem we are facing now is the planet impossibility of reabsorbing and synthesizing the large amount of waste that the human being has been generating over the past 40 years, so thinking of solutions to reduce that waste can have incredible benefits for our future well-being.
We, as fashion students, can help to fight the waste choosing biodegradable and sustainable materials. When it comes to makeup, we don’t use as many materials as for example in fashion clothing or pattern making, but even so, many of them are highly polluting, so replacing them with other eco-friendly options can make a difference.
As a future makeup artist, I am surrounded by thousands of chemical products and non-biodegradable materials that can be a danger to the environment. This can become a headache, how should I be concerned about the health of the environment around me if my work involves the use of products potentially dangerous for it? therefore, my duty as a professional will be to minimize the use of these products, experiment with different ways of approaching the same project with different materials without abusing or wasting them and strictly following the specifications of health and safety.
Reducing waste is also crucial in this profession, since most products are disposable or made of plastic, reducing their use and recycling them is a must. For example, when removing makeup, now that I am fully aware of the crisis we are living, I will be replacing makeup remover wipes and cotton pads with microfiber towels, it would reduce the tons of waste produced each year from this type of hygiene product… Another way to reduce the wastage list, mostly made of plastic products, is by supporting brands and consuming sustainable products with biodegradable packagings such as bamboo, wood or other materials.
The recovery of our planet depends not only on how my way of working in the future can change but on how society evolves to adapt to the needs of our planet. That is why I believe that all these measures for the conservation of our environment and many others should be supported by governments, with zero tolerance for any discrepancy. Experts say that we have a period of ten years to reverse the effects of what could be the end of the human species and change my way of working (and everyone else’s) for a more sustainable one will be crucial. Big changes start with small steps.
REFERENCES
Fletcher, K. (2020) ‘ Nature’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February
IMAGE CREDIT
Trash, Sebnem Coskun (2019)
3rd May 2020 @ 4:48 pm
Peer Review
I think you explored the theme of sustainability within your practise really well, in particular how you’ve pointed out some of the major pollutants within the make-up industry (such as plastics and disposable products) and came up with solutions on how to be more sustainable through using microfiber towels instead. It really shows a conscious effort to take what you’ve learnt from the lectures and use it to grow and improve, as well as that you’ve researched eco-friendly alternatives once you’ve discovered what you currently use is sustainable.
In addition to this, you’ve mentioned how although the make-up industry is not as polluting as fashion clothing that the waste from this industry still negatively affects the planet and needs to be addressed as well. It has also made me consider the ways in which the make-up industry can improve, and for feedback I would say that it would be good to elaborate more on what eco-friendly alternatives there are for make-up products, or maybe go into more depth on how damaging the make-up industry is on the environment.
One thing that I think you could improve on was that you mentioned well-being briefly but I think it would’ve been good to mention this aspect of better lives more in this post, as I think it not only relates to sustainability very well due to its links to capitalism and consumerism, but also how the perception of beauty in society affects well-being. You could’ve talked about how make-up and well-being are related, what kind of impact the beauty industry has on the well-being of those who take part in it and the relation of constant spending to improve well-being on the environment as a whole.
Overall I think this was a really good look into how you can improve or update your practise through learning more about sustainability, and it’s great you’ve decided to take a conscious effort to change how you work to improve the environment because of this theme.
24th May 2020 @ 6:28 pm
After reviewing Rafael Garrido’s blog post called ‘Waste’, I can say that the post is well composed and the ideas are communicated very clearly. Rafael has made a clear connection between the Better Lives themes – sustainability, diversity, and social responsibility and his creative practise. Rafael has particularly recognized and discussed details and the impact of the makeup industry affecting the world’s environment.
I do not know a lot about the makeup industry, however, the same as millions of people in the world I use makeup and am concerned about the damage it does, not only to our skin but also to our planet. As I have worked in Neal’s Yard Remedies, sustainable and organic skincare and wellness brand for almost 3 years, my strong side is more to do with skincare, however, I also have received training about the bigger picture and I am interested in makeup. In my opinion, there should be a more thorough education provided about sustainability issues in schools, as in businesses and of course enforced by the government as well.
I enjoyed reading his views on what is wrong and needs to be changed in the makeup industry. In my opinion, he should be more specific in his research about what chemicals exactly he aims to avoid. For example, in my opinion, EDTA should be avoided as it is a metal ion chelator that is used to prevent products from spoiling as well as a foaming agent, it does not biodegrade readily, I would also avoid BHT as it is very toxic for the aquatic environment. Looking back this is something I should have improved in my blog posts too. This might be something that I and many other students can look into after finishing the better lives unit. Additional help would be researching more into natural make-up and skincare suppliers such as Madara Organic cosmetics, Dirty Hippie Cosmetics, and ILIA. It is worth thinking about eco-friendly makeup brushes too.
Rafael also discussed the waste that is created by the makeup industry. Plastic is still widely used in the packaging of products and occasionally in the actual makeup products too. As Rafael wrote in his blog post: “This is a cause which should not be taken lightly and requires radical and immediate changes.” It’s worth to investigate and note if brands, that you are currently using for personal and professional purposes, provide any information about the awareness of sustainability, for example, their carbon footprint and if they are doing anything about it. I came to pay more attention to this after I found out that the brand, I work for was UK’s 1st high street retailer to go carbon neutral in 2008.
A statement I agree the most with, from Rafael’s post, is: “I believe that all these measures for the conservation of our environment and many others should be supported by governments, with zero tolerance for any discrepancy.” In reality the companies that produce the largest amounts of waste will only change their actions if it is required by the government because otherwise it is not financially advantageous for them.