What did my morning look like for Earth Day?
Earth Day morning was a blast for me! Took a train to Long Island City with my good friend Alex and went to an amazing warehouse called The Materials for the Arts. I have never heard of this center before and was introduced to it by a wonderful activist and model, Cameron Russell. She hosted a small meet but the message was huge.
The fashion industry is one of the dirtiest industries in the world next to factory farming and oil. When I used to think of pollution I would think of sewage pipes leaking into oceans, or power plants billowing with smoke into the ozone, but one of the biggest contributors to global warming is actually as close as your closet. With damagingly water intensive practices, toxic chemicals being leached into the environment, and the demand for more of earth resources once your clothes are quickly "out of season"; it is inevitable that change must happen for us to sustain existence.
PHOTO BY MEI TAO.
If you can spot me, I have the amazing repurposed bright red yarn hat.
On this day Cameron promotes a new wave of consciousness for sustainability in the fashion world, and sheds light on this amazing center that has been changing the sustainability game for 30 years now. The Material for the Arts Center saved 1.5 million pounds of fashions fabrics and supplies that were headed to the trash last year. They provide a way for companies and individuals to donate unneeded supplies to thousands of non profit organizations with arts programming and public schools.
Cameron states " We need every single person, in the area that they know (their community, their school, their jobs) to push for sustainability because innovation needs to come from all over. So the real choice we have isn't whether or not we are going to change, but are we going to lead change?
So after her inspiring speech, we took a grand tour of the this amazing center. I was mind blown with the things that they had. Textiles, fabrics, old paintings and frames, a whole tub full of brand new phone cases. Leather bags, perfect jewelry rejected by big companies, aisles upon aisles of amazing goods that were near perfect.
If you have time you have to go to their website to learn more! Click HERE!!! Better yet, go to an event, class, or workshop where you can experience and learn about creative reuse hands on!
After the tour my friend and I got a little too excited about the repurposed clothes and creations so we found a pretty cool chicken head and thought we would make the most of it. Check out the video below!!!! Thank you Alex Todaro for your creative direction in the video and for allowing me to dance to my hearts desire…with a heavy chicken head on.
Happy Earth Day everyone!
If you want to read another article on this day check out Glamour's article by clicking HERE!!!!