Local producers brought their eco-friendly accessories to the Railway Garden Winter Fair to challenge the impact that fast fashion has on the environment.
Cardiff producers have been highlighting the need to make the fashion industry more sustainable by selling products that show how a circular economy could benefit the environment.
Businesses like Bombus and Gorgeous Franks brought a range of accessories made from discarded clothes and scraps at the Railway Garden Winter Fair to show how the fashion industry could reduce its impact.
“The fashion industry is wasteful and produces tons of waste, which is generally a very unsustainable industry,” said Amber Jones, the owner and designer of Bombus ，who remade a brand focuses on remaking or up-cycling materials.
Green Squirrel, in partnership with the Eco Market Collective, hosts this fair for free and provides a showcase for artisanal manufacturers, as well as food and performances.
In the festive market here, there are many independent and local ethical and sustainable traders. They use recycled materials to make a variety of decorations and people can have many choices.
Compared with other treatments, the recycling of waste clothing and scraps can minimize carbon emissions, according to Amber. “Recycling waste clothes into accessories such as wallets and hair rings are almost zero carbon emissions and almost no waste,” she says.
All the goods at the booth are handmade and do not rely on machinery, so they do not produce significant carbon emissions.
This production method not only ensures that each product has a unique manual texture and artistic value but also reduces the environmental burden and resource waste through the flexible use of waste materials and promotes environmental protection and sustainable development.
In addition to the whole old clothes, the scraps produced when making clothes can also be recycled.
Gorgeous Franks, an individual handmade manufacturer from Splott, focusing on using textile scraps to make cross-stitch, small clothing, and accessories.
Heather, owner of Gorgeous Franks explained the reason for using scraps. “There are always some clothes left when sewing. I do not want to waste it. I plan to use them to make some useful items, “she said.
As a manufacturer of recycled textiles, ensuring that the products conform to the concept of circular economy is one of the crucial links. For sustainability, material selection when making is important. “I think the use of cotton and organic materials is the best way to ensure sustainability,” said Heather.
Railway Garden Winter Fair provides a display platform for recycled textiles, giving craftsmen committed to the cause of environmental protection the opportunity to show their talents, while promoting the development of sustainable economy.