University of Rhode Island
Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design
TMD 402N Seminar: Sustainability
Rebekah Greenwald, Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living
What is Sustainability?
Summary by Chelsea D’Andrea
Today, we must all be conscious about the footprint we leave behind on our Earth. On behalf of the Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living, Rebekah Greenwald, the Director of Education, spoke about the importance of working to protect the Earth and be aware of the effect that we have on the economy, environment, and society. The Apeiron Institute strives to “help both people and institutions understand connections between lifestyle choices and the environment.”
The Apeiron Institute works tirelessly to educate and advocate in hopes of spreading the word about sustainability and its importance. One of the institute’s chief priorities is to turn Rhode Island into a completely sustainable state, the first of its kind. Within the state of Rhode Island already, the institute has helped to move in the direction of ecological protection through the creation of a home. This house is unique in that it utilizes 70% less energy than a normal home, and contains over fifty environmentally friendly components that all work together to form a fully integrated system. The Sustainable Rhode Island project aims to integrate all aspects of the environment, economy, and society such as land, water, food, energy, and transportation.
One man has been very influential in the aim to increase sustainability nationally, and that is William McDonough http://www.mcdonough.com/. We learned that Mr. McDonough worked to develop a “triad of concerns” which includes economic growth, environmental protection, and social equality. Each of these aspects come together to form the web that is our world. McDonough, also a renowned architect, defined three imperative expressions which we must all live by: “waste equals food, use current solar capital, and respect diversity.” During the seminar, we all had an opportunity to participate in a very special activity to calculate our ecological footprint. This exercise allowed us to see what impact we as individuals have on the Earth. After evaluating my individual usage of water, food, transportation, shelter, energy, clothing and recreation, I calculated a 47.5 acre footprint, which was just about the average for the state of Rhode Island.
Quickly we found that with a footprint too high we are consuming more land than we ever should, yet on the contrary, a footprint that is too low can indicate poverty and starvation. We discovered that Rhode Island alone consumes more land than the global average. With such an appalling statistic it is to be expected that ten Earths would be required in order to support our current living habits. In reference to the textile industry, Ms. Greenwald shared with us ways in which the industry could take action to protect the environment, thus reducing the ecological footprint.
Based on McDonough’s “Cradle to Cradle” eco-effective strategies, a closed loop industrial park, (where an open flow of renewable resources which imitates a natural ecosystem) could help successfully recycle resources and efficiently fuel various plants. Already implemented in countries across the globe, this concept in addition to eco-friendly and renewable textiles could dramatically improve the impact of the industry on the environment. Ms. Greenwald closed reminding us that it is important to remember that we can all work together to make small changes that will ultimately yield the greatest influence on the Earth and improve the sustainability of our eco-system.
Textile companies that have begun sustainability efforts are linked below.
www.cargilldow.com/s_natureworks.asp
http://karma-technologies.com/
The RI Sustainable Living Festival is on June 7th & 8th www.livingfest.org.