Raechel Harnoto

8 June 2009

English 145

Creative Sustainability: Cal Poly’s Craft Fair

            Until the Industrial Revolution, almost every product used by consumers was handmade. Large amounts of time in the home were devoted to producing cloth out of wool to be made into clothing. But in the wake of the Revolution, cloth could be made faster and in greater abundance than in any time in history. Production of apparel moved out of the homes and into the “large, dusty, poorly illuminated and ventilated and dangerous” factories of the city (Montagna). Since revolutionizing textiles in the late eighteenth century, the industry has become even more efficient at producing products at an ever increasing rate to satisfy the consumer’s continuous need to buy more as the definition of “fashionable” changes incessantly.

            It is quite remarkable how rapidly trends can change in the span of one decade and how quickly clothes and accessories go from fashionable to out of style. What began as a way to protect oneself from the elements quickly evolved into the industry that pumps out new fashion trends with every change in the season. Though it seems ridiculous and wasteful to discard a still-wearable article of clothing or accessory simply because it has been deemed unfashionable, the push to fit in is so strong that that is exactly what is happening in today’s society. In his book, Fashion, Culture and Identity, Fred Davis says that, “the universe of meanings attaching to clothes, cosmetics, hairstyles and jewelry…is highly differentiated in terms of taste, social identity, and person’s access to the symbolic wares of a society.’’(Davis, 9) The modern society looks up to individuals with good taste and social identity who, consequently, have access to the “symbolic wares of a society” which could take the form of the latest fashions. With this idea, a connection can be drawn between being fashionable and having social importance, something that most members of society strive for to gain acceptance and social status.

            This need to constantly keep up with the latest trends in order to continue to feel accepted is a powerful driving force behind the incredibly wasteful fashion industry. In her short film entitled “The Story of Stuff” that exposes the “underside of our production and consumption patterns,” Annie Leonard discusses the journey of the “stuff” that flows though society “from its extraction through sale, use and disposal.” In order to maintain profitability, companies will outsource their labor to third world countries and utilize the cheap labor there to minimize production costs. Also, the toxic chemicals used to produce the cotton, synthetic fibers or plastic that go into producing the cloth that clothes are made of or the accessories that go with them as inexpensively as possible add up to an unsustainable system that cannot possibly continue at the same rate that it is presently. According to the film, there are over 100,000 synthetic chemicals being used in modern day commerce and over four billion pounds of toxic chemicals being released into the environment every year by American industries alone. In the past three decades, one third of the plant’s natural resources have already been used up (Daly). If the consumption continues at this rate and no effort is put into replacing those resources, in sixty years, Earth will be unable to support the system of consumerism society has set up. To some, sixty years seems like a time far in the distance that is of no importance to the immediate present, but with some thought, the realization that the complete decimation of the plant could occur with the lifetime of the present generation of young adults becomes quite plain. After nearly nineteen minutes of painting a grim picture of the environmental hole modern industry has dug itself into, Leonard presents some seeds of hope that change is beginning to happen all along the chain of materialism; of particular interest of this discussion is the idea of a “closed loop system.”

            A closed loop system is a system in which the disposal step of the chain has been eliminated and the end products are recycled and repurposed to create “new end use products” (Closed Loop). Though this may seem as if it is difficult to attain and would require major technological innovations to accomplish, some grassroots movements within the fashion industry have already used this idea of a “closed loop system” to reduce the environmental footprint left by production. The “do it yourself” (DIY) movement has been steadily gaining in popularity as more and more people become aware of their rate of consumption. Threadbanger, one of the forerunners of the DIY movement began as a weekly podcast produced by Rob Czar and Corrine Leigh in the summer of 2007. The podcast instructed viewers how to take junk destined for the dump and repurpose it with some inexpensive supplies into something new and useful. Examples of projects featured on the show include: flip flops out of an old yoga mat, a padded computer case out of plastic grocery bags and a dress out of an old sweatshirt. Since 2007, Rob and Corrine have produced almost two hundred shows and several new weekly shows have been added to the network. The show emphasizes the ease of creativity and encourages its viewers to come up with their own projects and share them with fellow “Threadheads” via the website’s forums. By promoting the reuse and recycling of existing materials, Threadbanger successfully creates a closed loop system perpetuated by human creativity (Threadbanger).

On a more local level, the DIY movement can be spotted on campus at Cal Poly. Every spring, the Cal Poly Craft Center hosts a Craft Fair in the University Union. The Fair goes for three days and allows both student and local community artists to showcase their art in a well publicized venue. All the art sold at the fair is handmade locally and often created from organic or repurposed material (Mustang Daily). Katie Greenstein, a first time artist in this spring’s craft fair, sold earrings she had made out of bottle caps. In an interview, Katie revealed that she got the idea from seeing discarded bottle caps lying around: “I thought that it would be an awesome way to combine my love of jewelry making and being eco friendly and create something unique at the same time” (Greenstein). The craft fair has received a positive response from the large number of students who pass through the University Union plaza on a daily basis. Lauren Chertudi, a second year business major at Cal Poly, said, “I love getting stuff from the craft sales because everything is so unique and I know that I’m not buying something made with child labor in a third world country.”

The benefit of buying goods that are handmade and local is that it helps to reduce the amount of pollution going into the environment. By buying local, the need for greenhouse gas spewing trucks and freighters to transport the goods from the factories to the distribution centers is effectively eliminated. Buying local also helps support local artists and the local economy.

The Cal Poly Bookstore, El Corral, is also doing its part in supporting sustainable fashion by introducing Vy & Elle to its inventory. Vy & Elle, founded in 2002 by eco-conscious designers Nicola Freegard and Robin Janson, creates bags, wallets and pencil cases out of old vinyl billboards. Their company is based on the philosophy that “by refashioning giant images produced by a disposable culture into smaller individual works of art, [their] products make a strong personal statement of style for their owners, and a stronger voice about sustainability.” Vy & Elle also works closely with other manufactures to turn scraps that come out of the bag making process into garden hoses and flooring to maximize the amount of material that can be reclaimed.

Another way that Cal Poly students and residents of San Luis Obispo at large can get involved with the handmade movement is through the website Etsy.com. Created in 2005, Etsy showcases over 100,000 sellers worldwide. The website allows artists to sell their handmade items to not only their local communities, but also the international community. Etsy gives buyers the option to search for local sellers and by doing so, allows them to, again, buy locally and support local artist and the local economy.

As a participating artist in the Spring Craft Fair, one of the almost 35,000 subscribers to Threadbanger, and fan of Vy & Elle and Etsy, I am an avid advocate for finding alternatives to the continuous need to produce and consume goods. Making clothes and jewelry by hand adds a unique and creative stylistic flair that no fashion magazine or industry could ever replicate. What is “in” one day will be “out” the next, and blindly following the recommendations of Cosmopolitan to buy the new dark wash skinny jeans that all the movie stars are wearing is only going to perpetuate the sad progression of consumerism that will lead planet Earth to destruction. Fads and trends will come and go, but sustainability and creativity will always be in fashion.

Works Cited

About Us. 21 April 2009. Vy&Elle. 6 June 2009. < http://www.vyandelle.com/aboutus.html>.

Chertudi, Lauren. Personal Interview. 1 June 2009.

The Closed Loop Story. 27 May 2009. Closed Loop Recycling. 27 May 2009. <http://www.closedloop.com.au/index.php?id=1>.

Daly, Gay. “Bad Chemistry.” NRDC: On Earth Magazine. 27 May 2009.

Davis, Fred. Fashion, Culture, and Identity. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1994.

Fina, Patrick. "Crafters abound at annual fair." The Mustang Daily. 6 May 2009: 6.

Greenstein, Katie. Personal Interview. 25 May 2009.

Montagna, Joseph A. “The Industrial Revolution.” 8 June 2009. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. 8 June 2009. <http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/2/81.02.06.x.html>.

The Story of Stuff. 22 May 2009. Free Range Studios. 27 May 2009. <http://www.storyofstuff.com/resources.html>.

ThreadBanger. 27 May 2009. Next New Networks Inc. 27 May 2009. <http://www.threadbanger.com/page/about-threadbanger>.

What is Etsy?. 8 June 2009. Etsy. 8 June 2009. <http://www.etsy.com/about.php?show_panel=true>.