Do What You Can Day at Halladale Hall is part of the Climate Fringe Festival
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It’s not long now until the Do What You Can Day being run by Halladale Film Club at Halladale Community Hall on Friday June 16, writes Carol Russell.
Everyone is invited to go along – the doors open at 2pm – and get involved in this grassroots initiative to explore how we can, repair, recycle and repurpose our old clothes.
The event is part of the Climate Fringe Festival which runs from June 10-18 and comprises around 50 community-led events happening the length and breadth of Scotland.
These range from film screenings, repair workshops and litter picks to citizen science with a core theme of different ways of looking after the planet.
The event in Halladale Hall focuses on how we can be more mindful in our approach to the clothes that we wear, and to fashion in general.
Thurso Community Development Trust and Highland Community Waste Partnership are supporting the event and their climate development officer, Oksana Iatsiuta says: "Our attitude to clothes and textiles has become so wasteful and it needs to change. Clothes swaps can make a difference. I am very happy to see us divert textiles from landfill."
It is estimated that 92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually by the fashion industry. Huge volumes of clothes are produced to get new styles onto the market as quickly as possible.
These trends are short-lived, and this toxic system of overproduction and consumption has made the fashion industry one of the world's largest polluters.
While these issues may seem overwhelming, if we all work together and make small changes in our lives, we can play a key role in reducing waste in the fashion industry.
The Do What You Can event aims to address this wastefulness in several ways:
* A clothes exchange where folk can browse through racks of clothes and find themselves a new look.
* Repairing, recycling, and repurposing. There will be the opportunity to reinvent garments and also to learn mending techniques from sewing on buttons to visible mending.
Our team will assist with looking at ways of recycling garments. There will be the chance to do some basic hand sewing and machine sewers and overlockers will be on hand to assist with simple alterations.
* Education. We need to learn more about the fashion industry. Did you know that three out of five garments end up in landfill within one year of purchase? Or, that it takes around 7000 litres of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of jeans?
* Film screening. The film documentary Fashion Reimagined examines some of the uncomfortable issues surrounding the fashion industry as designer Amy Powney searches for a more sustainable way to create high-end fashion.
One of the event organisers, Alex Patience, said: "I saw the film Fashion Reimagined and was inspired to feel that by working with others to organise this event in my community, I could be a small part of halting the climate emergency."
There will be a "Build Your Own Wrap" meal at 6pm with teas and coffee served throughout the day.
If you want to do your bit, come along and join the Do What You Can team at Halladale Hall and stay for all or part of the day. Admission: £5 over 18; £2 under 18.
Please drop off clothes for the clothes exchange at the following locations:
THURSO:
Socially Growing, 1 Rotterdam Street. 01847867310
CASTLETOWN:
Free Church, Main Street. Thursdays 2-4pm.
PORTSKERRA/MELVICH:
West End Stores- shop opening hours.
HALLADALE:
Halladale Hall- Halladale Film Club June 10.
BETTYHILL
The Store- café opening hours
