H&M: Marketing Greenwashing or Eco Enthusiasts?

It's Tuesday again, so that means I've wrote another article for the Holloway Express. I've wrote a feature about H&M's World Recycling Week campaign and scheme. While I understand that the company means well, I have mixed feelings about the whole truth behind the recycling process. Is it actually eco? Is it a contradiction?

My article can be found here if you would like to read more about it.

Happy recycling!

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It’s World Recycle Week, and H&M are raising awareness with a big campaign that gives the fashion-conscious public an opportunity to do their share for the environment.

Growing the materials to make clothes, dyeing and finishing them with chemicals, manufacturing them and finally shipping them around the world consumes a vast amount of resources, putting a tremendous strain on our planet. The fashion industry can be toxic and harmful, but H&M are on a green mission to make us aware of these nasty effects.

H&M is one of the largest fast fashion brands in the world when it comes to sales, but since 2013, it has been collecting old garments, which they then will recycle.

Currently, the Swedish apparel giant has already accumulated 25,000 tonnes of preloved clothes as part of its Garment Collecting program, launched three years ago. H&M can “recycle them and create new textile fibre, and in return you get vouchers to use at H&M. Everybody wins!”

And from 18th – 24th April, H&M is hoping to collect another 1,000 tonnes. They are encouraging its consumers to bring in a normal shopping bag of any old textiles in exchange for two x £5 vouchers: however, the voucher is only redeemable on your next purchase when you spend over £25.

H&M World Recycle Week featuring M.I.A.

Are Take-back Schemes Worth It?

Eco writer Lucy Siegle wrote for the Guardian that “technical issues with commercial fibre recycling mean that only a small percentage of recycled yarn is used in new garments. Using publicly available figures and average clothing weights, it appears it would take 12 years for H&M to use up 1,000 tons of fashion waste”.

“We are not completely convinced on the usefulness of the take-back scheme,” said Rosie Roberts, Administrator at the Centre of Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion. In October last year, a panel debate discussed take-back schemes, featuring a host of distinguished names in the area of sustainable fashion, including Professor Kate Fletcher of LCF, Worn Again founder Cyndi Rhoads and Project Leader for Sustainability at H&M, Cecilia Brannsten.

From the debate, it was understood that take-back schemes necessitate a strong and effective reuse and recycling infrastructure, systems view and design intention. However, recycling garments is not free. Repairing and reconditioning requires machine energy, water and process chemicals. There is also a lack of openness about how take-backs are used, and the full impact of the process. It is therefore misinterpreted as a marketing idea.

H&M’s week-long #WorldRecycleWeek campaign informs its consumers with a video that the textiles are taken to a processing plant to get sorted, clothing that is in good condition is distributed as second-hand goods. Items too worn and torn to use again get a second life as cleaning cloths, rags and so on. Others are converted into insulating materials, filling for car seats, or they can also be ground into fibre, spun into yarn and woven into new fabrics.

Ninety-nine percent of the garments collected are re-worn, reused or recycled while the last one percent is turned into new energy. Even the dust generated during the grinding process in filtered and turned into new material.

Investing in Social Projects

Any money made from this recycling service is invested in social projects, as well as research and innovation projects that focus on recycling within the textile industry. In 2014, the Swedish retailer partnered with recycling technology company Worn Again and sports and lifestyle company Kerring to solve problems in textile waste, specifically polyester filament and cotton fibres.

The retailer invites you to call into your local H&M in Angel, Camden High Street or Wood Green to ask staff about more details.

See “Recycle, Islington!” for more about sustainability in the borough.

Image courtesy of H&M

Bye Bye Boris

With it less then a month until we cast our votes to elect a new Mayor of London, this article will discuss how Boris Johnson’s role as London Mayor. The last eight years has not been spent effectively in the best interests of Londoners.

Whilst boosting London’s profile by getting stuck on a zip wire, his time in this position has mainly been spent on pointless vanity projects, causing massive debt at the expense of the taxpayer, multiple policy failures and reoccurring broken promises. With his last Mayoral term nearly over and rumours of becoming a possible Prime Minister candidate, this essay will look at key moments that prove little beyond boosting his own profile and showing minimal thought for the 8.6 million people who live here.

In 2008, Boris took his first term as Mayor of London and set out his vision for the future of London. His manifesto included to make the capital the greenest city in the world, make the streets safer, create affordable housing and to create a no-strike deal with the tube unions. The reality in fact, is the opposite. London has suffered it’s worst riots in 30 years, is more polluted then ever, housing is the most expensive it’s ever been, the gap between the rich and the poor is wider then ever, there have been more strikes then under his predecessor Ken Livingston and transports costs are the most expensive in the world. When Boris departs his role next year, all these challenges that remained previously in 2008 will be present for the next occupant, but much worse. Which makes you question what has one of the capital’s top politicians actually done for it’s inhabitants. A YouGov poll included the words buffoon, untrustworthy and arrogant to describe Boris. There is much more to the role then being able to make convincing speeches, photo-ops and appearing on programmes such as Top Gear. Boris, who regards his £250,000 Telegraph column salary as “chicken feed”, is seemingly oblivious to the problems that Londoners are crying out to be tackled.

In his eight years, Boris has used his power to put his stamp on the city. There’s nothing more that unitarily affects Londoners then transport. Our Tube, buses and trains together carry over 10 million daily. Cost of travel in London is currently at an all time high, and is the most expensive in the world when compared to other global cities. In 2011, Boris introduced 800 new unnecessary routemasters to the capitals roads at a cost of £250 million, with £30,000 salary for each of the rear bus assistants. The new buses are said to be more environmentally friendly, but actually emit 74% more harmful particles then the older buses and many even run on environmentally harmful diesel now. London is experiencing a toxic air crisis. This year, research found that 7,500 people die each year as a result of air pollution. The New Statesman argues that “if these figures don’t cause the Mayor to wake up and take action, nothing will”. Since Boris came to power, London’s pollution problem has been concerningly absent from his agendas. Shockingly, this proves most worrying when thirteen city schools lie within 150m of roads with daily heavy vehicle usage, keeping the children inside for their play time. When questioned about this pollution, Boris said “it seems perfectly fine to me”. Clean air is one of our most basic human rights. More controversially, is the Silvertown Tunnel proposal in East London to link London's Royal Docks and Greenwich Peninsula. While residents of the area argue the risk of further lethal pollution, Boris said the £750 million tunnel, that will ease congestion, “is essential for the future success and prosperity of a growing capital city like ours”. 

The Silvertown Tunnel is a seemingly worthwhile project to Londoners, a massive contrast to this is, the Garden Bridge. The New Statesman questions is this Boris’s biggest mistake. As far as tourist attractions go it’s a winner. As a transport project, it’s totally useless, like the Emirates Cable Car. This £175 million bridge is the most elaborate of Boris’s vanity projects. Private donors supply £100 million towards the unnecessary bridge fund, and the public cost has been reset at a substantial £60 million from an original £3.5 million. A sort of reverse Robin Hood economics, taking from the poor to prop up extravagant vanity projects. Concerns are growing further after Lambeth council on the south side of the bridge withdrew support because the taxpayers money was unjustified. Many people have questioned whether the publics moneys towards the bridge should be concentrated on something else, like investing back into fire stations or the metropolitan police. Jenny Jones, Deputy Chair of the Policing and Crime Committee, who consistently calls for greater police resources and deals with Boris in holding the Mayor to account, was asked her opinions on Boris Johnson as the Mayor. He is a “useless Mayor”, and a “selfish sociopath” who is “totally uninterested in the police” and will “trample over anyone” to get what he wants.

With his eight year reign coming to an end, it’s obvious that his passion for his job has dwindled. Leaving questions behind of was there ever any legit enthusiasm there before. Was everything done in vain, or was this just a job to keep him occupied until he can sleep comfortably at night in No. 10. But, when he can appoint a team of deputy mayors and advisors, how can you be angry with Boris for juggling writing history books, a newspaper column, campaigning to get the UK out of the EU, becoming an MP and going on a holiday three weeks into his newly appointed role. A buffoon, yes. Mayor of London? Fuck no.

Calls For Cameron's Resignation

I wrote an article for the Holloway Express about the #ResignCameron protest outside Downing Street on Saturday, the public's anger at Cameron's immorality and the anti-austerity demo happening this Saturday, the 16th.

The full article is available here.

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Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Downing Street on Saturday afternoon calling for David Cameron to resign after the leaking of the Panama Papers.

Following confirmation that the Prime Minister benefited from his late father’s offshore tax haven account, protesters took to the streets of Westminster to express their anger. Mr Cameron and his wife, Samantha, sold the shares in Ian Cameron’s offshore company, Blairmore Holdings, for £31,500 before he became Prime Minister in 2010.

After Iceland’s history-making protest resulting in the Prime Minister’s resignation last week, the “Resign! A gathering at Downing Street” event, which was organised through social media, drew mass attention prior to it taking place.

The hashtag #ResignCameron was used to promote it across social media networks, whilst a Facebook event page was created with the official details of the demo. An estimated 13,000 people were on the “interested” list of the event page, whilst 5,000 were on the attending. Famous faces like Lily Allen, Jarvis Cocker and Joel Fry were present at the police-heavy protest, whilst Edward Snowden, with a series of live tweets, voiced his opinions on closing the tax loopholes.

Whilst the crowd chanted “tax evasion is a crime, David Cameron must resign”, the event organisers called for motivating speeches. “Tax avoidance allows big companies to break their social contact with you and me, services are the backbone of the country,” Jolyon Rubinstein of the Bafta-winning BBC political satire show The Revolution Will Be Televised, told the crowd

The Prime Minister’s tax affairs brought people together on Saturday, while austerity was also an issue for the angry congregation. A man identified only as Alan from North Shields shouted into a microphone: “The northeast has one of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment. Why is it in this country that we have people living on food banks, it’s not right, it’s not normal!”

One of the event co-ordinators “Phoenix” of Occupy London, said: “It’s the corporate monsters and that monster in there that is destroying our children’s futures. Everyone has gathered today because of the tax havens and the austerity robbery programme, what is really going on?

“They are saying we need £850 billion for austerity. £850 billion is something like all the money the big corporations haven’t paid in tax. David Cameron and his Tory mates are hiding away their money in tax havens, and they are closing down our schools, libraries and hospitals.”

The day after the demonstration David Cameron released his tax papers, providing tax details since he took office as Prime Minister. In an interview with ITV last week, Mr Cameron said he had paid full UK tax and done nothing illegal. However, it also emerged on Sunday that the PM had received two separate payments totalling £200,000 from his mother in 2011, which suggests this method was used to avoid paying a substantial inheritance tax sum.

Some argued that what the Prime Minister has done, although legal, was morally wrong. In the House Of Commons yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn said: “We’ve gone through six years of crushing austerity” and “ordinary people in the country simply won’t stand for this anymore, they want real justice, they want the wealthy to pay their share of tax, like they pay when they work hard all the time”.

The People’s Assembly were successful for bringing London to a standstill with their End Austerity Now Demonstration with 250,000 protesters in June 2015 following the general election. This weekend, they join forces with “Resign! A gathering at Downing Street” for another mass demonstration, hoping to recreate and double the viral energy of last weekend’s gathering.

Members of the demo will march from Euston Gower Street to Trafalgar Square, eventually gathering outside Downing Street.

A New Rave To Start The Day

If you like getting up early, dancing sober and glitter, well I have wrote an article just for you on the Holloway Express.

Full article available here.

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Looking for a way to break your monotonous, mid-week morning routine? Well, the happy folk of Morning Gloryville are eager to help.

Morning Gloryville offers its conscious clubbers an immersive morning of holistic health and energetic dancing. Nicknamed the ultimate wake-up call,  this early morning rave – from 6:30am – 10:30 am – comes without the added vices most raves usually have. Instead, enjoy organic coffee or a superfood smoothie.

These high-octane four hours were created for people who still enjoy the energy and rhythm of the dance floor, but may have left their raving lifestyle of the previous few decades behind them. Most partygoers are professionals and usually head off to work when music comes to an end, but event organisers also encourages families and children to attend.

Each event has a theme, and promotes all guests to dress up accordingly. The next event, “Marriage of Heaven and Hell” Party, on April 27th, is celebrating everything light and dark in the world – and in us. Each Gloryviller must bring a ring to pass on to a fellow raver, with a celebrant and a ceremony to follow, promoting people to “marry” their community.

The home of these empowering mornings is at Oval Space in Bethnal Green, also referred to as the “Mother Ship” and/or “Gloryville HQ”. This venue hosts a state of the art drum n’ bass Audiotechnik sound system, two outdoor terraces and floor to ceiling windows, which is perfect for watching the sun come up over the decommissioned gasworks and industrial landscape of East London.

“It’s really hard to put it into words but the vibes coming from a crowd of completely sober ravers giving it 100% energy and happiness at 6:30 am,” said Bradley Gunn, who works as a software developer Monday – Friday. “I have never seen an entire crowd smiling so much and dancing with so much pure energy. From start to finish my mind and body was pumping with energy like never before,” he said.

Jemima Gibbons, a social media strategist, reassured that “the hardest part is getting out of bed – once you’re there, it’s completely worth it!”

The sober raving venture began in East London in 2013, and has now spread its creative energy to 23 locations worldwide, including Australia, USA, Canada and various capital cities throughout Europe. With previous acts including Basement Jaxx and Fatboy Slim supplying the music, it’s no wonder that it was given a critics choice for clubbing in London by Time Out, and most recently, the Best Zero Alcohol Initiative in the UK.

Tickets are currently available on their website – £12.50 for students, and £16.00 for the general public, excluding booking fee.

For further info, please check out http://morninggloryville.com

Thursday Afternoon Dress-up

Not wanting to feel totally unproductive over the Easter holiday break, an afternoon of prosecco, cheesy 90s anthems and dress-up was organised. It was our first time attempting styling since our styling portfolio at university. Knowing that we are not models, the prosecco was the catalyst to loosen our camera shy poses up. Initially, we both felt a bit goofy and were very thankful the only person that saw us was Charlotte's nosy neighbour. With no set theme to work with, but given that summer is on the horizon, we wanted to mess about with prints and colours. These are some of the shots of from our silly afternoon.