Blog Post One: Reflection on a lecture(s) – Nature
Throughout the lecture, I learned the importance of the actions we take as humans and the huge impact that they have on the planet. Because of our actions, we have a limited amount of time to help the planet we live on, so we must think of new ways to renew and reuse materials in order to prevent us from using all the Earth’s resources. The story of what is estimated to have happened on the island Rapa Nui (Easter island) in the south Pacific Ocean, is the perfect example of the huge impact of humans have on the climate. When the island was discovered in the 19th century, it was abandoned, but had six-metre-tall statues dotted across the island, suggesting that humans had occupied there before. Researchers estimate that trees were cut down in order to move those statues, which were used for spiritual and tribal practice, eventually leading to crops dying and therefore, the inhabitants dying out also. This story helps us realise the importance of our actions and that we need to save and renew the earths resources rather than use and abuse them, because if we use them all, we will destroy all nature and humanity.
The fashion industry is very dependent on nature for many things, such as, for the resources of material for products and it is the enabler of fashion. It’s important, especially in the fashion industry, to think carefully about the choices we make. We need to think about how we can produce fashion items out of natural and synthetic materials while at the same time, protect the earth from damage. This got me thinking about how you could used reused and recycled materials to create new garments and still make it ‘fashionable’ and ‘trendy’. I think its important to get the attention of adolescents and young adults in the renewal of clothes and how, by just buying and wearing recycled clothes, a massive impact can be made on the Earth’s environment. Its important for the younger generation to get involved with helping save the planet because its their future that will be affected by climate change and will continue to deteriorate if nothing is done now. Hopefully by getting more young people involved, it will help spread awareness and get more people interested in making a change and improving our future.
We not only have to take responsibility for ourselves, as a humanity, and the impact we have on the climate, but we also must consider who we share the planet with, such as animals and plants. We need to pay attention to the effect global warming has on animals and their habitats and how this affects their ecosystems. For example, the human acts of deforestation and intensive agriculture cause a decline in insect populations, which affects the growth of nature and animal environments/ habitats and threatens the collapse of nature. The earths future is dependent on us and it in our hands to do something about it now while we still can.
References:
Fletcher, K. (2020) ‘Nature’ [Lecture]. Better lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February.
https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=400921 ( accessed:15/04/2020), Arts Moodle.