There’s no doubt climate change is a hot topic these days. With so much awareness and discussion about the environment, we all strive to do our part. The more we learn about the threats to the environment as a direct impact of our lifestyles, the more we seek to decrease our impact. Redress and the Environment and Conservation Fund created a toolkit for change – exploring the idea that fast fashion practices have to go. The Circular Fashion Programme provides learning materials and resources to students and teachers.
Fashion Industry
Fashion is one industry we can focus on to effect change. After all, over 7.5 billion people need clothing and the fashion industry is happy to over cater in order to make as much money as possible. In recent years, a UN Climate Change action charter was created for the fashion industry which is a strong indication the fashion industry is committed to urgently acting. They endeavor “to set an example to other sectors around the level of commitment required to meet the scale of the climate challenge.”
Toolkit for Teachers and Students
Since the fashion industry is often viewed as glamorous, it is important to recognise that it is one of the most polluting industries and affects everything from our land to our water and even the air that we breathe. In collaboration with teachers and curriculum advisors from the English Schools Foundation, the Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong, and a wider network of Hong Kong schools, and funded by funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund and the Environmental Campaign Committee, Redress created an educational toolkit. It is known as the ECF Circular Fashion Education Programme.
This educational toolkit is designed for primary and secondary teachers and students, and aims “to inspire students to think critically about our system of producing and consuming fashion, and drive change through positive actions that extend beyond the classroom.”
There are three modules with links to pertinent curriculum and relating to UN Sustainable Development Goals. The modules the topics of overproduction and overconsumption, pollution and waste, and innovations and solutions. The website also contains a resource library full of vocabulary words, interesting facts, videos, news articles, photos and more.
ABOUT REDRESS
Redress is a Hong Kong-based environmental charity with a mission to prevent and transform textile waste to catalyse a circular economy and reduce fashion’s water, chemical and carbon footprints. Their programmes with designers, educators, consumers, brands and industry bodies work to change mindsets and practices to stop the creation of textile waste now and in the future, as well as creating systems and partnerships that generate and showcase value in existing waste.
They believe that educating young citizens is critical to accelerating change in consumer behaviour and fighting against climate change. They also want to spark passion in young people to demand better systems and better products and for a more sustainable future.
