Definitions

Social design has many definitions and the term is put to very different uses across the globe. Some definitions exist within the design world and refers to design in its traditional sense, meaning the shaping of products and services. Other definitions refer to social design as the creation of social reality; design of the social world.


Within the design world social design is sometimes defined as a design process that contributes to improving human well-being and livelihood .   ... 
Designers can contribute to designing more ecological products by carefully selecting the materials they use. Papanek also remarks on designing for people's needs rather than their wants. Responsible design includes many directions and one of these is design for the Third World. Designers have responsibility over the choices they make in design processes
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A Community design is a unitary industrial design right that covers the European Union. It has both unregistered and registered forms. The unregistered Community design came into effect on 6 March 2002 and the registered Community design was available from 1 April 2003
A design is defined as "the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines, contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of the product itself and/or its ornamentation".
Designs may be protected if:

  • they are novel, that is if no identical design has been made available to the public;
  • they have individual character, that is the "informed user" would find it different from other designs which are available to the public. Where a design forms part of a more complex product, the novelty and individual character of the design are judged on the part of the design which is visible during normal use.
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A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value[1] (economic, social, or other forms of value). The process of business model construction is part of business strategy.
In theory and practice the term business model is used for a broad range of informal and formal descriptions to represent core aspects of a
business, including purpose, offerings, strategies, infrastructure, organizational structures, trading practices, and operational processes and policies. Hence, it gives a complete picture of an organization from a high-level perspective.
Whenever a business is established, it either explicitly or implicitly employs a particular business model that describes the architecture of the value creation, delivery, and capture mechanisms employed by the business enterprise. The essence of a business model is that it defines the manner by which the business enterprise delivers value to customers, entices customers to pay for value, and converts those payments to profit: it thus reflects management’s hypothesis about what customers want, how they want it, and how an enterprise can organize to best meet those needs, get paid for doing so, and make a profit.



Ethical consumerism is the intentional purchase of products and services that the customer considers to be made
ethically. This may mean with minimal harm to or exploitation of humans, animals and/or the natural environment. Ethical consumerism is practiced through 'positive buying' in that ethical products are favoured, or 'moral boycott', that is negative purchasing and company-based purchasing.
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The rise in ethical consumerism and
green brands that identify themselves as ethical, has led to a rise in ethic-based decisions in the mass market, enabled by increased understanding and information about businesses practices. The term ethical consumerism may refer to the wider movement within marketing, which means that large corporations wish to be seen as working ethically and improving the ethical standards of their industry.
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Sustainable fashion, also called eco fashion, is a part of the growing design philosophy and trend of
sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system which can be supported indefinitely in terms of environmentalism and social responsibility. Sustainable fashion is part of the larger trend of sustainable design where a product is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may have throughout its total life span, including its "carbon footprint". According to the May 2007 Vogue appears not to be a short-term trend but one could last multiple seasons.[1] While environmentalism used manifest itself in the fashion world through a donation of percentage of sales of a product to a charitable cause, fashion designers are now re-introducing eco-conscious methods at the source through the use of environmentally friendly materials and socially responsible methods of production.
There are some organizations working to increase opportunities for sustainable designers. The National Association of Sustainable Fashion Designers is one of those organizations. Its purpose is to assist entrepreneurs with growing fashion related businesses that create social change and respect the environment. Sustainable Designers provides specialized triple bottom line education, training, and access to tools and industry resources that advance creative, innovative and high impact businesses. The organization’s mission is to create social change through design and fashion related businesses by providing education, training and programs that are transformative to the industry and to cultivate collaboration, sustainability and economic growth.

According to Earth Pledge, a
non-profit organization (NPO) committed to promoting and supporting sustainable development, "At least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles and 25% of the world's pesticides are used to grow non-organic cotton. This causes irreversible damage to people and the environment, and still two thirds of a garment's carbon footprint will occur after it is purchased."
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Sustainable clothing refers to fabrics derived from eco-friendly resources, such as sustainably grown fiber crops or recycled materials. Historically, being environmentally-conscious towards clothing meant (1) buying clothes from thrift stores or any shops that sell second-hand clothing, or (2) donating used clothes to shops previously mentioned, for reuse or resale. In modern times, with a prominent trend towards sustainability and being ‘green’, sustainable clothing has expanded towards (1) reducing the amount of clothing discarded to landfills, and (2) decreasing the environmental impact of agro-chemicals in producing conventional fiber crops (e.g. cotton). Under the accordance of sustainability, recycled clothing upholds the principle of the “Three R’s of the Environment”: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, as well as the “Three Legs of Sustainability”: Economics, Ecology, and Social Equity.
Through the utilization of recycled material for the manufacturing of clothing, this provides an additional realm of economic world profit. Sustainable Clothing will provide a new market for additional job opportunities, continuous net flow of money in the economy, and the reduction of raw materials and virgin resources. Source reduction or reducing the use of raw materials and virgin resources can ultimately reduce carbon emissions during the manufacturing process as well as the resources and carbon emissions that are related to the transportation process. This also prevents the unsustainable usage of extracting materials from the Earth by making use of what has already been used (i.e. recycling).




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Textile recycling is the method of reusing or reprocessing used clothing, fibrous material and clothing scraps from the manufacturing process. Textiles in municipal solid waste are found mainly in discarded clothing, although other sources include furniture, carpets, tires, footwear, and nondurable goods such as sheets and towels.
Some companies, such as
Patagonia, an outdoor clothing and gear company, accept their product back for recycling.[1]

 Reuse

Textile reuse is not classified as "recycling" by the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ because the reused garments and wiper rags re-enter the waste stream eventually, so these techniques are classified as a diversion and not recovery for recycling estimates.

 Resale

After collection of the textiles, workers sort and separate collected textiles into good quality clothing and shoes which can be reused or worn.

Conversion to rags

Damaged textiles are sorted to make industrial wiping cloths

Recycling

Obstacles

If textile re-processors receive wet or soiled clothes however, these may still end up being disposed of in landfill, as the washing and drying facilities are not present at sorting units.[2]

Process

Clothing fabric generally consists of composites of cotton (biodegradable material) and synthetic plastics. The textile's composition will affect its durability and method of recycling.
Fiber reclamation mills grade incoming material into type and color. The color sorting means no re-dying has to take place, saving energy and pollutants. The textiles are shredded into "shoddy" fibers and blended with other selected fibers, depending on the intended end use of the recycled yarn. The blended mixture is carded to clean and mix the fibers and spun ready for weaving or knitting. The fibers can also be compressed for mattress production. Textiles sent to the flocking industry are shredded to make filling material for car insulation, roofing felts, loudspeaker cones, panel linings and furniture padding.[3]
For specialized polyester based materials the recycling process is significantly different. The first step is to remove the buttons and zippers then to cut the garments into small pieces. The shredded fabric is then granulated and formed into small pellets. The pellets are broken down polymerized and turned into polyester chips. The chips are melted and spun into new filament fiber used to make new polyester fabrics.[4]
Some companies are creating new pieces of clothing from scraps of old clothes. By combining and making new additions, the eclectic garments are marketed as a type of style.
. . .(see more on Wikipedia).Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non living things on earth. This philosophical interpretation moves well beyond definitions driven by progress oriented economic perspectives that see humans as providing stewardship, the responsible management of resource use. In ecology, sustainability describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time, a necessary precondition for human well-being. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems.
Healthy ecosystems and environments provide vital goods and services to humans and other organisms. There are two major ways of managing human impact on ecosystem services. One approach is environmental management; this approach is based largely on information gained from earth science, environmental science, and conservation biology. Another approach is management of consumption of resources, which is based largely on information gained from economics.
Human sustainability interfaces with economics through the social and ecological consequences of economic activity. Moving towards sustainability is also a social challenge that entails, among other factors, international and national law, urban planning and transport, local and individual lifestyles and ethical consumerism. Ways of living more sustainably can take many forms from reorganising living conditions (e.g., ecovillages, eco-municipalities and sustainable cities), to reappraising work practices (e.g., using permaculture, green building, sustainable agriculture), or developing new technologies that reduce the consumption of resources.


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Constructivism (Art) was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th century, influencing major trends such as Bauhaus and the De Stijl movement. Its influence was pervasive, with major impacts upon architecture, graphic and industrial design, theatre, film, dance, fashion and to some extent music.

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Constructivism (Learning Theory)  is a theory of knowledge (epistemology)[1] that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. During infancy, it was an interaction between human experiences and their reflexes or behavior-patterns. Piaget called these systems of knowledge schemata. Constructivism is not a specific pedagogy, although it is often confused with constructionism, an educational theory developed by Seymour Papert, inspired by constructivist and experiential learning ideas of Jean Piaget. Piaget's theory of constructivist learning has had wide ranging impact on learning theories and teaching methods in education and is an underlying theme of many education reform movements. Research support for constructivist teaching techniques has been mixed, with some research supporting these techniques and other research contradicting those results.
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Trashion (a portmanteau of "trash" and "fashion") is a term for art, jewelry, fashion and objects for the home created from used, thrown-out, found and repurposed elements. The term was first coined in New Zealand in 2004[1] and gained in usage through 2005.


Initially trashion was used to describe art-couture costume usually linked to contests or fashion shows; however, as recycling and 'green' fashion become more prevalent, trashion has taken a turn for the more wearable. The term is now widely used in creative circles to describe any wearable item or accessory that is constructed using all or part materials that have been recycled, including clothing that has been thrifted and reconditioned.




Philosophy
Trashion is a philosophy and an ethic encompassing environmentalism and innovation. Making traditional objects out of recycled materials can be trashion, as can making avant-garde fashion from cast-offs or junk. It springs from a desire to make the best use of limited resources. Trashion is similar to upcycling and refashion, although it began with specific fashion aspirations. Like upcycling, trashion generates items that are valued again, but these may be low-cost or high-cost, perhaps depending on the skill of the artist.

 History

Indigenous people throughout the world have used salvaged materials to create new objects for an indeterminate number of years. Africans have made bags from rice and juice packets, Haitians have made sculptural jewelry from old oil cans, and American settlers have made quilts and rugs from cast-off clothing and feed sacks. People were making something from nothing long before the word "trashion" was coined.
In the 1990s, American artist Ann Wizer began using plastic waste in her wearable art. Working in the Philippines, and titling her line the 'Virus Project,' Wizer created a set of costumes made entirely from post consumer plastic waste to celebrate Earth Day. The first plastic packaging tote bags were accessories to these costumes. There are now numerous small scale poverty intervention projects throughout Southeast Asia in the process of creating similar trashion accessories and other fashion and homeware items. This includes the XSProject, a charity originally founded by Wizer and based in Jakarta.
In 2006 a recycle fashion brand called Plan B was founded in Finland as a fashion sub-label for Helsinki Metropolitan Area Reuse Centre Ltd (Finnish. Kierrätyskeskus). The label called their refashioned garments and re-designed furniture trashion.
In 2006, Wizer's friend Julia Genatossio launched Monsoon Vermont, a trashion design house. The company designs items such as umbrellas, shower curtains and backpacks which are made from Jakarta's scavenged trash. Unlike the XSProject, Monsoon Vermont is a for-profit venture.

See also

The Trashion movement took off in New York City in late 2004, early 2005 through underground parties on the lower east side of Manhattan at a club called Plan B. Trashion was part of the fashion of Urban Gypsy Circus, which is an interactive art party thrown by multi-media artist Miz Metro. These parties exhibited art made out of recycled materials and included monthly "TRASHION FACEOFFS" where 2 designers would compete to be the "TRASHION QUEEN". This led to Matthew Namer & Miz Metro curating the TRASHION Art show at Gallery 151 on exhibit during the summer of 2009 on the lower east side of Manhattan.
Trashion is also regarded as a sub-gendre for DIY fashion scene as a form of creation that uses not only trash/junk but used and secondhand materials instead of new ones to create and refashion new garments and accessories.