COMPOST- NOT AS SMELLY AS YOU WOULD THINK!

What are some of the first words that enter your mind when you hear the word COMPOST?  In the past, whenever I heard the word compost, I would commonly associate it with two adjectives, smelly and dirty.  Countless individual’s, including myself, have several misconceptions regarding the process as well as the benefits of compositing.  The amount of waste generated by humans has rapidly increased due to our resource heavy appetites.  Often times, waste is not properly disposed, inevitably ending up in landfills.  Using the methods of composting, provides a solution to improper waste disposal by incorporating the Cradle to Cradle concept of waste=food.  When composted, products constructed 

from natural fibers and materials are transformed into biological nutrients that nourish and replenish our environment.  

This week, I was inspired by the Cradle to Cradle concept that focuses on biological nutrients.  In order, for a product to fall into the biological nutrient category, it can only be constructed from materials that can be recycled back into nature.  Biological nutrients do not impact the environment negatively.  Unlike technical nutrients, biological nutrients enrich the nature of our environment.  Products constructed from natural materials that can easily be composted is the focus of my design concept this week.  In the article, C2CAD: a sustainable apparel design and production model, the author Gam describes four steps that can be used to effectively integrate the framework of the cradle to cradle model into the practices of production.  The four steps include, problem definition and research, sample making, solution development and collaboration and production.  After reading the assigned articles, it became very apparent to me that mixing technical and biological nutrients complicates the disposal process, inevitably making it more energy intensive.  Products containing biological and technical nutrients must undergo the separation process to ensure each material is properly disposed.  In my opinion, the separation process is labor intensive and it’s very unlikely retailers, manufacturers, and designers will actually follow through with this process.  

The concept that I designed reiterates Gam’s first step which is focuses on problem definition and research.  Many of the problems and frustrations of retailers and designers could be completely avoided by putting forth the effort to avoid mixing biological and technical nutrients.  In the application of my design concept, products would be constructed solely from biological nutrients or technical nutrients, not a mixture of both.  After clothing has reached the end of its lifecycle, consumers would compost the products made from biological nutrients and products made from technical nutrients would be sent back to retailers to reuse.  The following example helps illustrate the foundation of my design concept.   To apply my design concept, a designer would first need to determine if she would use biological nutrients or technical nutrients to construct her envisioned design.  In this scenario the designer chooses the more natural route, biological nutrients.  To construct her envisioned design, a dainty collared button-down blouse, she selects fabric that’s made from organic cotton and uses this fabric as the basis of her design.  To assemble the different panels of the shirt the designer uses thread that’s biodegradable.  The next step of my design concept is influenced by Gam’s collaboration approach and by the ethical and sustainable production methods discussed in the article, Textile futures: Fashion, design, and technology.  After the shirt is fully assembled, it’s transferred to sustainable manufacturer, who would then dye and add the trimmings to the shirt.  The manufacturers would use only natural dyes, similar to the dyes discussed in the article by Gam.  Once the shirt is dyed, the trimmings are added by the manufacturers to the shirt.  The buttons and/or trimmings are unlike the typical plastic buttons that are usually found on shirts.  The buttons are made from biodegradable materials, such as corn.  By using only biological nutrients, such as  organic cotton and biodegradable thread and buttons, eases the disposal process for consumers as well as the apparel and textile industry. 

Biodegradable button from the website-http://www.hktdc.com/suppliers-products/Biodegradable-button/en/1X0669UF/1290474

         My design concept reflects many of the design aspects discussed in the articles by Gam and Quinn.  Quinn stresses the importance of taking a more innovative approach that rethinks and reinvents new ways to reuse textiles.  The points made by Quinn inspired the versatility of my design concept.  The congruence of materials and the four-season sustainability methodology, are two aspects Gam strongly emphasized throughout the article.  Ultimately Gam’s ideas helped me form the basis of my design concept that revolved mostly around the composition of materials purely constructed from either biological nutrients or technical nutrients.