Love Hachi Designs supporting an up-cycling vision
Article by Renee Carpenter
We love our little four paw friends, our fluff ball mini family members, full of energy and enjoying our beautiful world. We love taking our beloved ones to parks to play, a swim at the beach or a run to take in the fresh air. This is why, it is critical we do what we can to take care of the world we humans and doggies live and share.
We believe we can be fashionable, and our dogs can be too. Yet fashion, has a wasteful side, a reputation that damages the world we live, and therefore here at Love Hachi Designs we are proud to use an up-cycling vision to ensure we play our important role to contribute to a better world.
What is up-cycling?
The concept of up-cycling considers what may be discarded by one party may have value to another. Thus, the definition for ‘waste’ should be redefined to rethink this waste as a potential reusable resource for others. Through intelligent collection, reengineering, reprocessing and sorting the opportunity arises to transition unrealised sources of valuable raw materials into saleable and usable products. This concept gives “waste” new life, transforming it into an asset. The difference that defines up-cycling from re-cycling is that with up-cycling the item is transformed up into a new asset of higher value. The name ‘up-cycling’ an opposite reflection to the term ‘down-cycling’, which finds a reuse for the item that may be lower than the items original value. The most common ‘cycling’ terminology used is ‘re-cycling’ which means to simply re-use, or re-purpose. With re-cycling the original to end value is not a concern.
What's the purpose of up-cycling? Why are we concerned about fashion textile waste?
The purpose is to reduce our textile waste. Textile waste is perceived problematic due its harm to the environment, human health and our doggie’s health too. The moral view of waste generation in fashion, argues it is an industry that is symptomatic of wasteful and undesirable overconsumption. In addition, the fashion and textiles industry is the second largest producer of pollution, second only to the mining industry.
Majority of our second hand clothing, unfortunately does not find a new human home, but instead fills our landfills. Environmental concerns identify textile waste in landfills contribute to the formation of leachate as it decomposes, which has the potential to contaminate groundwater. Methane gas is another product of decomposition from textile waste in landfills. Methane gas is a major cause of greenhouse gases that factor towards global warming. In addition, textile waste is commonly incinerated in large quantities, emitting organic substances such as dioxins, acidic gases, heavy metals, and dust particles, which rise potential to harm humans, doggies and the environment.
How does Love Hachi Designs support up-cycling?
Our popular denim varsity collection is sourced from second hand denim garments, personally selected by designer Nina Ly from Melbourne second hand clothing stores. Each denim garment is reused and repurposed into creative unique custom-made designs including our bestseller item the ‘Vintage Varsity Blue Denim Dog Harness’. Love Hachi Designs embraces finding new life for our old human clothing and recreating the so-called ‘waste’ into fashionable doggie designs.
Article credits to Renee Carpenter, Ethical Fashion Consultant of The Sustainable Fashion Collective.
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