Trisha Cheeney, a woman who lives in Baltimore, is one of the pioneers in the world of fashion that uses plastic waste to become bags and clothes. She wants the plastic bag is not wasted because can increasingly damage the environment.
As we know, plastic waste is one of the most produced wastes and is increasing every year. The fashion industry is expected to participate in reducing the waste to become a more environmentally conscious industry.
Of course, there are several steps of progress over the years, especially with influencers like Livia Firth and Emma Watson, but there is definitely room for improvement. Did you know that there are an estimated 700 billion plastic bags produced each year, each of which takes between 15 and 1,000 years to decompose?
Trisha Cheeney and Sustainable Fashion
Years ago, no one would have imagined that recycled items would be used to make items such as bags, jackets, and backpacks. That is why Cheeney, a graduate student from Maryland Institute of Arts in the field of sculpture studies, become one of the advocates for sustainable and environmentally friendly fashion.
She created her clothing line called Pälemer to encourage others to rethink how the materials around us are used. Its uniqueness lies in the material that it uses and tries to challenges the world of fashion to reduce waste from consumers.
Some of the products that have been created include winter jackets made of 214 pieces of used plastic bags and mixed of used wool. She also created a windproof jacket made of 90 pieces of used plastic bags. She also made bags from around 80 used shopping bags.
Trisha Cheeney and the Pälemer brand
The Pälemer brand comes from the idea of her friend, a MICA graphic designer, Conner Nielander. He also designed the logo. Pälemer comes from the phonetic spelling of the word “polymer.”
She argues that the problem of the fast mode is not much different from the problem of using plastic shopping bags. Our culture has developed a mindset that is damaging to the environment around products, especially those that are cheap and designed for single use. It is estimated that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year which is equivalent to more than 1 million per minute.
Customers use each bag for only about 12 minutes and some plastic bags cannot be recycled, and take up to 1,000 years to be degraded in a landfill. Fast fashion operates with very similar principles.
Consumers and companies must stop using cheap prices as the dominant factor in their decision making. It is a short-term market solution that has long-term consequences for our planet and its citizens. We have experienced long-term consequences and that is frightening. We all need to make more long-term, holistic decisions that take into account the well-being of our planet and its citizens,
Both consumers and companies need to realize that as citizens of the planet, they have a personal interest in prioritizing personal and environmental health rather than comfort and financial problems.
For fast fashion consumers: Regardless of your budget, there are always ways to make purchasing decisions that are smarter, more ethical towards the environment. Save your funds for quality items that you will like and that will last a long time, knowing that part of the reason they will survive is that you like them and will take care of them when washing and repairing them. Look for quality goods and styles that you will appreciate. This is the advice from Trisha Cheeney to all of us in choosing and facing fast fashion trends that are increasingly damaging our environment from their waste.
