Blog 1

I have now watched a number of the different Better Lives lectures, these have opened my mind to new insights of different areas that I hadn’t really explored before and has now created more of an understanding of this issue. The lecture I felt I connected with most was Kate Fletcher’s lecture regarding ‘Nature’.

I have always felt very passionately towards the impacts we as humans have affected the ecosphere, however I did not have the knowledge to support how I felt. The need for change is non-negotiable and it truly baffles me that it’s not on the frontlines of the news and social media today. Listening to Kate tell us about the extreme weather conditions that hit new records only in February 2019, the polar vortex dropping to -40C located in North America, in comparison to the heatwave in Australia hitting a high of +40C, and to top it off both of these severe conditions happening in the same week, is going down a dark path for the planet and it will be catastrophic if things do not change. 

“There’ll be no politics to be done on a dead planet.” 

This is a quote Kate said that really stuck with me. She informed us that if we do not make drastic changes to our daily lifestyle in the next 10 years then there will be irreversible damage to the ecosystem. This next statement can truly display how much of an impact human greed and selfishness has on our surroundings “half of the world’s animals have gone since 1970” if we don’t take more social responsibility of the world around us, these extinctions are just going to grow and this will take a blow to the ecological communities.

Kate also talks about how disconnected we are as humans to the nature around us. Our race believes it is the center of the universe and how all life; whether its animals, plantlife and land are there to be ravished and worn down to benefit the lives that we live. It begs the question, if we are so reliant on the ecosystem and its resources, how can we believe that we are above it? 

After listening to this lecture it has shaped my thinking as to query where different fashion products are from and how they were made. I am consciously asking myself questions that I never used to before, is it healthy for the planet? Was there a more sustainable choice I could have made? Is the fashion I buy recyclable? Is it an eco-friendly brand? These small changes from enough people will slowly but surely change the world. Another quote springs to mind from another lecture “All changes started from a small group of people”. Fashion as an industry is huge and if everyone gets on board with these healthy changes then we can truly make a difference. 

I am more mindful of how to live my day to day life with the understanding of how my choices will affect a healthy environment for all life in the future. 

Fletcher, K. (2020) ‘Nature’ [Lecture] Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February.