The video emphasizes the significant environmental and economic impacts of the fashion industry, reminding viewers of the unsustainable production and waste statistics of textile production. It highlights the paradox between the fashion industry's positive impact on personal expression and the economy versus its negative environmental footprint. Key statistics include textile production as the number one industrial polluter of fresh water and a major contributor to global waste.

To address these complex issues, known as wicked problems, the speaker shares insights into sustainable and creative solutions being developed, such as implementing microfiber filters in washing machines to reduce ocean microplastics, promoting a circular economy through textile repurposing patents, and using invasive species for vegan leather. Despite challenges, innovations in sustainable fashion practices demonstrate that improvements can be made through thoughtful actions and innovations.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. spun [spʌn] - (verb) - The past participle of 'spin,' meaning to draw out and twist fibers into thread. - Synonyms: (twisted, rotated, whirled)

I see that it is a wool fiber that was most likely sp spun and woven by hand.

2. adornments [əˈdɔːrn.mənts] - (noun) - Decorative items used to add beauty or distinction. - Synonyms: (decorations, ornaments, embellishments)

In fact, adornment is essential to human behavior.

3. paradox [ˈpærəˌdɑːks] - (noun) - A situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities. - Synonyms: (contradiction, conundrum, anomaly)

That is the wicked fashion paradox that we are living.

4. catalytic [ˌkætəˈlɪtɪk] - (adjective) - Causing or accelerating a chemical reaction without being consumed itself. - Synonyms: (stimulating, activating, accelerating)

...much like the catalytic converters help to keep our air clean...

5. infrastructure [ˈɪn.frəˌstrʌktʃər] - (noun) - The basic physical systems and structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. - Synonyms: (framework, foundation, base)

They develop educated workforces and expanded infrastructure.

6. mantra [ˈmæn.trə] - (noun) - A statement or slogan repeated frequently; often a guiding principle. - Synonyms: (slogan, motto, chant)

Growing up with my depression era parents whose mantra was waste not, want not...

7. implication [ˌɪm.plɪˈkeɪ.ʃən] - (noun) - The conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is not explicitly stated. - Synonyms: (suggestion, inference, indication)

...these very complex situations that we have with the good and bad of fashion.

8. microparticles [ˌmaɪ.krəʊˈpɑː.tɪ.kəlz] - (noun) - Very small particles, usually difficult to see with the naked eye. - Synonyms: (tiny particles, micro-parts, granules)

...keep those tiny little particles of plastic out of our water stream...

9. biodiversity [baɪ.oʊ.dɪˈvɜː.sɪ.ti] - (noun) - The variety of plant and animal life in a particular habitat. - Synonyms: (diversity of species, ecosystem variety, ecological variety.)

Using invasive species leather is a triple win. Protects local economies, restores biodiversity and gives us that beautiful comfort of natural skin.

10. circular economy [ˈsɜː.kjʊ.lər ɪˈkɒn.ə.mi] - (noun) - An economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources. - Synonyms: (sustainable economy, closed-loop economy, regenerative economy)

Well, we can turn to the circular economy, that economy where clothing keeps getting used over and over and over again...

3 problems with sustainable fashion - Mary Ruppert-Stroescu - TEDxStLouisWomen

This jacket that I'm wearing was made in the year 1890. I see that it is a wool fiber that was most likely sp spun and woven by hand. The craft and the care put into making this jacket most likely made it outlive its original owner by over three generations. Think about that. Where will the clothes your wearing be in the year 2153? Maybe that doesn't matter because the World Trade Organization tells us that last year 193 pieces of clothing were made per person on Earth.

But what if the life cycle of your clothing does matter on that same Earth? The United Nations Environmental program tells us that 93 million pounds of textile waste were created in that same year. And textile production is the number one industrial polluter of fresh water. At the same time, fashion is good for us. Positive expressions of the self through clothing are well documented. Wearing clothing helps us function better and live healthier. Actually, textile based sensing systems are poised to revolutionize healthcare. In fact, adornment is essential to human behavior. One of the things that distinguishes us from animals. Unless of course, you dress up your kitty.

The fashion industry is also an important economic driver. As one of the largest manufacturing and consumer industries in the world. That fashion industry that's made up of everything from farmers to petroleum producers to retailers and fashion brands, employs over 1.8 million people in the United States alone. So on top of the environmental bad, we see personal and economic good. That is the wicked fashion paradox that we are living. It brings to mind this idea of wicked problems. Wicked problems are problems that are complex. They are cross cutting and they're relentless. And they are in short, solutions to problems that create more problems.

Now, are you like me? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by these wicked problems they say are depleting Earth's resources and shortening the time that we can live comfortably here on Earth. Sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed and depressed and just say the problem's too big, there's nothing I can do. But I'm a cup half full kind of person and I believe that each one of us can make a difference. For example, a paper I co authored about the fashion detox inspired the University of Glasgow to create a movement that was then recognized by the United Nations Sustainable Goals Program as a best practice.

I myself give up consuming any new fashion items for 10 weeks at least once a year. And it's amazing how it pushes creativity and helps us to see the clothing in our wardrobe with different eyes. Give it a try now. I've not always been so enlightened to see the good and the bad of the fashion industry. Growing up with my depression era parents whose mantra was waste not, want not, as the younger generation does, I rejected frugal. My parents focus on using every little thing in our environment wasn't because it was cool. It wasn't because it was fun or a trend. It was out of necessity for survival. My late mother's quilting group, Mama's Relatives, was founded in the 1930s when my mother was a child, during the greatest global economic downturn in history.

My widowed grandmother and her cousins, all struggling deeply to keep their families warm, clothed and fed, gathered once a month to share fellowship and to sew little scraps of fabric into quilts. And my mother and her cousins continued on that tradition. Now, if you haven't guessed already, my lifelong calling has been with fashion, textiles and clothing. And the depth of my mother's waste not, want not mentality really hit me hard when she visited my fashion brand in Paris. Rather than taking home a snow globe of the Eiffel Tower. Like most visitors, she gathered scraps from our cutting room floor and took them home to put into her quilts. And I loved that she cared enough to take them home with her.

So despite my attempt to resist those depression era values, here I am advocating to reduce textile waste. Now, no one solution is going to solve the problem these very complex situations that we have with the good and bad of fashion. I'm going to walk you through a couple of these wicked paradoxes and we'll look at the problem, the solution we thought would work, the problem the solution created, and then maybe ways to help. You might have heard of the issue with massive amounts of plastic floating around in the ocean and of the movement to make clothing from plastic bottles. Well, unfortunately that plastic bottle textile sheds microplastics that end up back in the ocean. Anyway, a problem created by what we thought was a solution.

All is not lost because we can put filters into our washing machines that keep those tiny little particles of plastic out of our water stream, much like the catalytic converters help to keep our air clean that we have in our car. So with that innovation, we can find a way to turn what we thought was a problem into another solution. France has taken the lead on this path and by the year 2025 they will have all washing machines sold there with these microfiber filters.

The second wicked problem I want to discuss with you regarding fashion relates to disposing of unwanted clothing. Have you ever noticed we can still buy a three dollar brand new t shirt today? Like we could 25 years ago, we have gotten used to buying a lot of clothes for a little money, forgetting them after a few months and going back to the store for more. Some of us donate our unwanted clothes to second hand stores and there is value in that approach. Yet up to 80% of those donated clothes are not able to be sold locally and are shipped to developing countries. Now you might think, well that's a nice way to help, but actually it creates a wicked problem.

You see the textile and apparel industries as industries with low capital investment and easily learnable skills has been time and again the impetus for economies to develop. They develop educated workforces and expanded infrastructure. Think of America at the beginning of the 20th century and Japan after the devastation of World War II. Textile and apparel production helped those economies get to the high tech, high salary industries they are known for today. So by dumping our old textiles on developing countries, we are actually seeing people there, buried under our piles and piles of clothes. Not such a good solution.

So what do we do? Well, we can turn to the circular economy, that economy where clothing keeps getting used over and over and over again, maybe even for 130 years or more. While contemplating ways of giving value to old T shirts. With my students we came up with a way to reclaim textile waste, make it into new clothes without creating more waste. Our patent for textile repurposing and sustainable garment design was approved in 2017. We continue to enhance, we continue to enhance this waste reducing technology with the hope of having a stronger impact on that wasteful fashion industry.

An impact with style. These garments were made with 35 recuperated reclaimed T shirts. The third wicked fashion problem I want to discuss with you relates to vegan leather, which sounds like a good option to protect animals. Yet the majority of vegan leather is plastic based. Using up our natural resources, sitting in landfills for over 200 years and losing many of the natural qualities of tanned hide, the beautiful comfort and movement. There are better solutions.

Let's talk about one. As you drive over the Mississippi river, have you ever wondered what lurks under those murky waters? Well, aside from a $500 million industry dependent on that river, we also see the invasive carpet. This scary looking fish is a real problem and we don't know how to get rid of it. Invasive carp out compete other fish and destroy the microorganisms that are essential to the quality of our water. You might be wondering about right now, what do invasive carp have to do with vegan leather? Well, what if you took the skin from the carp and made it into leather? A graduate from a university in St. Louis is doing just that.

They call their invasive carp. Yes. Go St. Louis graduate. They call their invasive carp leather dragonfin. And just one skin of dragonfin helps to protect up to 150 native freshwater species. Also watch for. Thank you. Yes. Also watch for skins of non native angelfish and python from the Everglades. Using invasive species leather is a triple win. Protects local economies, restores biodiversity and gives us that beautiful comfort of natural skin. So I hope that I have shed new light on fashion practices and inspired you to shift the way that we make, use, design and dispose of our textile products.

We need to invest in innovation like microfiber filters and leather from invasive species and a patent to reclaim textile waste. Think critically about your actions and look at the way that they might be causing more problems than the solution that may be at first glance. And seek circularity. Think of the life of your clothes beyond your use of them. Remember, my jacket could have been worn by your great great great grandmother. And my dress brings me joy because it's made from two old raggedy sweaters and one dragonfin leather. So I will leave you with the words of the late, great dame Vivian Westwood. Buy less, choose well, make it last. Thank you.

Sustainability, Fashion Industry, Environmental Impact, Innovation, Economics, Inspiration, Tedx Talks