Zero Waste Scotland at the Festival

The organisers of the Scottish Smallholder and Grower Festival are delighted to welcome Zero Waste Scotland as a major supporter of the 2015 Festival.

One of ZWS’s main policy thrusts is in promoting the circular economy in the area of textiles, clothing and fashion. Experts at ZWS are working with the fashion industry to ensure that “fashion” doesn’t mean “fad” and that the Scottish fashion and retail industry is thinking about ways of reducing the impact of clothes from the design stage right through to how we buy, use and look after them.

The environmental impact of clothing is huge; the average household owns £4,000 worth of clothing, one third of which is never worn, while an estimated £140 million worth of used clothing is sent to landfill in the UK every year.

Now, smallholders are rarely seen as fashion icons – but we do produce a considerable amount of a very environmentally friendly textile – wool. And we often produce it from our marvelous rare and traditional British breeds. So we’re working with ZWS to help bring together small-scale producers with processors and designers to produce sustainable fashion.

The Festival seminar programme features a 2 hour session for a related discussion and workshop – and we’re delighted to be welcoming contributors Tone Tobiasson and Ingun Klepp from the Nordic Fashion Association, where they are involved in similar projects in Norway, and Lynn Wilson, Key Account Manager (Textiles) at ZWS. Read more about this session »

And we’re also excited to be welcoming Shirley McLauchlan, who will be coordinating activities around Love Your Clothes at the Festival.  The Love your Clothes campaign aims to reduce the impact of unwanted clothing on the environment, and is calling on us as consumers to buy quality items of clothing, recycle old ones, and get creative to make the most of your wardrobe. So Shirley will be inspiring folk to repair, remake and reuse clothing – things that always appeal to thrifty smallholders.

So come along and join in – and be inspired!