WSU Student Designs Eco-Jeans

PULLMAN, Wash.—Lacey Wilmot, second year graduate student in WSU's Apparel Merchandising, Design and Textiles program, used her love for jeans as an inspiration to develop long-lasting, sustainable jeans. Her thesis project, “Designing Culturally and Environmentally Sustainable Denim Jeans,” was presented at the 2010 Academic Showcase.

"I aimed to design American-made environmentally sustainable jeans,” Wilmot said.

“Jeans are iconic, but that’s been lost in the materialistic world,” Wilmot said. “I wanted to go back to the roots of American jeans.”

According to Wilmot, people spend $200 on jeans that only last seven months. The idea behind her project was to marry the iconic symbol of jeans with quality, and to make them sustainable. Her collection included five pairs of jeans, from trousers to skinny fit, all of which were meant for different body types.

“One thing that is wonderful about Lacey’s project,” said Carol Salusso, associate professor of AMDT, “is that she is combating throw away fashion and designing jeans that will last.” Wilmot wanted people to know that quality jeans can be made to be sustainable.

Eco-fashion is beginning to be trendy, but many people do not want to jeopardize fashion for the environment. Wilmot wanted to show people that she could design fashionable apparel that is eco-friendly and American-made.

“You shouldn’t have to advertise that something is environmentally sustainable, it should be a given,” Wilmot said.

Through research, Salusso discovered that the American Cotton Growers produce safe denim, which stands for sustainable, American and friendly to the environment. According to their Web site, the American Cotton Growers and its farmers produce an average of 37 million yards of denim annually, enough to make 26 million pairs of jeans, every yard of which is grown, spun, dyed, and woven from the cotton its members produce.

Salusso also found a company that produces eco-friendly products that can be used to lighten denim. The company, Dyadic, even sent samples as a contribution to Wilmot’s project.

“Lacey’s jeans have integrity,” said Salusso. “Visual integrity. Social integrity, Environmental integrity. Industry should be reestablished on a basis of integrity.”

“It’s really about making a good choice for yourself and for the world,” Wilmot said.

The Visual, Performing and Literary Arts Committee at WSU created a video about Wilmot’s thesis project. The video was being exhibited in the CUB Art Gallery and can also be viewed here.

Thrift Store Review:My Father's House Community Thrift

Overall: 3.5
Location: 4
Organization: 3.5
Selection: 4
Cleanliness: 3
Price: 3

My Father's House Community Thrift store is a tidy second hand shop located on 40 NE Midway in Oak Harbor, Wash.

Although in a small facility, My Father's House features good organization, the store is not over crowded with items and most clothes seem to be in good condition. The selection beyond clothing is a bit sparse. There is no furniture in this corner shop, but there are kitchen accessories, knick-knacks and toys.

The selection of clothing holds a few surprises. For the most part, the clothing is not out of the ordinary; however, there were a couple semi-formal dresses with original store tags! One may easily assume that the dresses have never been worn, and the prices were steeper. Altogether, the prices were on par with other thrift stores.

My Father's House Community Thrift is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Eco-Spirits Extremely Affordable

On a recent trip to the liquor store I came across 360 Eco Friendly Vodka. It was priced at $19.95 and I decided to give it a try.

The packaging includes a lot of useful information about the company’s environmental impact. It claims to be the first and only true eco-friendly premium vodka and has received awards in taste, quality, packaging and marketing. I am no vodka coinsurer, however I thought it was good and better than the similarly priced Skyy Vodka.

The store only had the regular 360 Eco Friendly Vodka, but after researching on the Web I discovered that 360 also distills cola and double chocolate flavors.

The vodka comes in an 85 percent recycled glass bottle and 100 percent recycled eco-friendly paper products are used in the labeling, packaging and promotional materials. The shipper uses 100 percent recycled cardboard. Environmentally friendly water based inks are used for printing of all materials. A program called Close the Loop was developed for the metal bottle closures with the purpose of enabling infinite reuse which reduces waste and conserves resources needed to produce new closures. The vodka came with an envelope with prepaid postage to return the closure.

The vodka is four times distilled through an energy efficient process, with every bushel of grain being fully utilized and nothing going to waste. The vodka is also five times filtered at a facility that has improved its eco-footprint measurably over the past five years. All grain is locally grown to significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption in transporting raw materials to the distillery.

According to an Eco-Audit with calculations based on research by Environmental Defense and other members of the Paper Task Force, the Earth Friendly Distilling Co. saved the following resources in the production of 360 Vodka’s labeling:

• 193 fully grown trees
• 82,766 gallons of water
• 9,255 pounds of solid waste
• 139 million BTU of energy
• 18,052 pounds of greenhouse gases

Share freezer space, reduce energy consumption at Main Market, Spokane

There's a new co-op in town, and it wields innovative green ideas that go beyond food. Main Market Co-op, Spokane offers a program for patrons to purchase a locker of freezer space in their store. Thus, people share the amount of energy needed to keep goods frozen. In store promotions for the concept claim that a co-oped freezer locker could greatly reduce or eliminate freezer use at home. The concept is designed for families who tend to buy frozen items in bulk.

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture is a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm so the farmland becomes the community's farm. Growers and consumers provide mutual support and share both the risks and benefits of food production.

With CSA, a farmer offers a certain number of shares to the public. Usually a share consists of a box of vegetables, but other products from the farm may be included. Interested consumers purchase shares, in advance, to cover the anticipated farming costs. Shares are also called memberships or subscriptions. In return these shareholders receive a box of seasonal produce each week of the farming season, but they also share the risks of farming, including poor harvests from things such as bad weather and pests.

CSA has become popular over the last 20 years. It is a great way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from the farmers, according to the Local Harvest Web site.
Here are some advantages of a CSA, straight from Local Harvest:

Advantages for farmers:

-Get to spend time marketing the food early in the year, before their 16 hour days in the field begin

-Receive payment early in the season, which helps with the farm's cash flow

-Have an opportunity to get to know the people who eat the food they grow

Advantages for consumers:

-Eat ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits

-Get exposed to new vegetables and new ways of cooking

-Usually get to visit the farm at least once a season

-Find that kids typically favor food from "their" farm – even veggies they've never been known to eat

-Develop a relationship with the farmer who grows their food and learn more about how food is grown

You can search for the closest CSA on the Local Harvest Web site, click here. There are six in the Pullman/Moscow area. For example, the Washington State University Organic Farm's CSA has 105 shares. The CSA averages 24 weeks starting mid-May and running through the end of October. A share costs $525 a season, but a half share is available for $325.

Eat Well Guide makes Eco-dining Easy

The Eat Well Guide from Sustainable Table is a great tool for finding green dining resources in your area. Discover co-ops, green wholesalers, farmers' markets and more. Sustainable Table also has kits for sale enabling anyone to spread the news about improving our food quality and the condition of our environment by making green food choices.