Year 8 Navigate the Geography of Fashion with GenEarth
This week, Year 8 have been challenged to see their wardrobes differently during a Geography of Fashion workshop led by GenEarth. Early in the session, they were confronted with a striking statistic: around 92 million tonnes of textile waste end up in landfill or incineration globally each year. The scale of fast fashion’s impact quickly became clear.
Students were introduced to the 7 Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Repurpose, Rent, Resell, and Recycle -before taking part in a fast-paced design sprint. They were given four strategies to choose from: encouraging clothes repair, creatively reusing garments, influencing behaviour through social media, or reducing waste from school uniforms.
From there, ideas developed rapidly. Some groups designed bags made from old clothes, while others suggested transforming outgrown uniforms into new items to sell. There were proposals for a token-based school swap shop, clubs to develop textile craftsmanship skills such as sewing, and even the use of AI to streamline fabric reuse.
GenEarth’s facilitators commented on the high level of engagement and practical thinking shown throughout. The workshop highlighted how valuable our young people’s ideas are in creating solutions to local and global sustainability issues.
