Students from the Fashion Department of Limerick College of Further Education (LCFE) have the upcoming festive season all sewn up through their participation in an innovative upcycling project.
The students are partnering with the Southern Region Waste Management Office (SRWMO) to transform jumpers owned by members of the public into Christmas jumpers in an effort to re-use some of the estimated 1 million tonnes of textiles thrown away annually from domestic sources.
The public are invited to bring their jumpers along to a workshop at 20 O’Connell Street (formerly Fergusons Chemist) between 11am and 3pm on Saturday December 14th.
“Fashion trends are forever changing and many items such as seasonal jumpers quite quickly become waste. This workshop will demonstrate how to cleverly transform something you already have using fabrics, plastics and other materials that are segregated for recycling,” explained Pauline McDonogh, SWRMO Waste Prevention Coordinator.
She continued: “We all love to feel festive and Christmas jumpers have become very fashionable whether you are participating in a family event or partaking in the 12 Pubs Of Limerick. Why buy a jumper on the high street that won’t make you stand out from the crowd when you can create something unique for yourself or for someone else using materials that would otherwise become waste.”
“All people need to do next Saturday is come along with their jumper to Fergusons, choose a design with the fashion team and watch as their jumper is quickly transformed into a festive one for free. All material used to transform the jumpers will be from the recycling waste stream, except a little bit of glitter and glue,” added Ms. McDonogh.
Textiles represent between 3% - 5% of the household waste stream even though it is estimated that an item of clothing still has 70% of its useful life left after it has been discarded. Meanwhile, over 70% of the world's population use second hand clothes.
Last month, the SRWMO hosted a separate upcycling event at Limerick County Hall. Furniture and household items donated by the public and obtained from Recycling Centres throughout Limerick were restored and put on display by participants of the Back2New project, which is run in conjunction with West Limerick Resources. For more visit www.managewaste.ie.
The students are partnering with the Southern Region Waste Management Office (SRWMO) to transform jumpers owned by members of the public into Christmas jumpers in an effort to re-use some of the estimated 1 million tonnes of textiles thrown away annually from domestic sources.
The public are invited to bring their jumpers along to a workshop at 20 O’Connell Street (formerly Fergusons Chemist) between 11am and 3pm on Saturday December 14th.
“Fashion trends are forever changing and many items such as seasonal jumpers quite quickly become waste. This workshop will demonstrate how to cleverly transform something you already have using fabrics, plastics and other materials that are segregated for recycling,” explained Pauline McDonogh, SWRMO Waste Prevention Coordinator.
She continued: “We all love to feel festive and Christmas jumpers have become very fashionable whether you are participating in a family event or partaking in the 12 Pubs Of Limerick. Why buy a jumper on the high street that won’t make you stand out from the crowd when you can create something unique for yourself or for someone else using materials that would otherwise become waste.”
“All people need to do next Saturday is come along with their jumper to Fergusons, choose a design with the fashion team and watch as their jumper is quickly transformed into a festive one for free. All material used to transform the jumpers will be from the recycling waste stream, except a little bit of glitter and glue,” added Ms. McDonogh.
Textiles represent between 3% - 5% of the household waste stream even though it is estimated that an item of clothing still has 70% of its useful life left after it has been discarded. Meanwhile, over 70% of the world's population use second hand clothes.
Last month, the SRWMO hosted a separate upcycling event at Limerick County Hall. Furniture and household items donated by the public and obtained from Recycling Centres throughout Limerick were restored and put on display by participants of the Back2New project, which is run in conjunction with West Limerick Resources. For more visit www.managewaste.ie.
