Two-day natural dyeing workshops at Aranya Natural, Munnar

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Toothpicker

The first two days of “The sustainability of natural dyes” conference took place at Eastend hotel in Munnar, followed by two days of natural dyeing workshops (at an extra cost) at Aranya Natural’s HQ. Due to limited numbers, all the spaces for the workshops filled up quickly, but many conference attendees requested to stand by and watch, which subsequently overfilled the workshops on the first day.

It was hard to blame those who wanted to watch the workshops as it was a rare opportunity to learn from three leading natural dyeing experts and a group of Japanese indigo farmers and dyers. Since the process of natural dyeing involves the understanding of chemistry, many of the experts would focus more on the chemistry rather than the aesthetics. To me, this is quite valuable, as I believe it is crucial to understand the science behind it all in order to achieve the desired results.

The first workshop that I attended was conducted by Michel Garcia, a world-renowned botanist, chemist, dyer, and naturalist. He is the founder of Couleur Garance (1998) in Lauris, France, and established Le Jardin Conservatoire de Plantes Tinctoriales (Botanical Garden of Dye Plants) in 2000. I have long wanted to attend a workshop by Michel, but he doesn’t seem to conduct many regular workshops, and I can only watch his videos online. In person, he is very funny, passionate and creative, you can really feel his passion for plants and natural dyeing.

In natural dyeing, a mordant is often needed to fix the dyes onto the textiles, and the most common mordant used is alum/potassium aluminium sulfate. At the workshop, Michel demonstrated how to use old tea leaves as a natural mordant, which was very interesting. However, the workshop was extremely packed, which made it difficult for us to hear and follow him properly. It was a shame that this issue was only addressed on the next day.

Screen printing workshop using natural dyes with Michel Garcia

The afternoon workshop was conducted by Jagada Rajappa, who is an independent textile entrepreneur/consultant on natural dyes. She demonstrated dyeing silk yarn with kapila (mellotus Phllipinces) and lac (coccous Lacca), which resulted in vibrant red and yellow. The results revealed that naturally dyed colours are not dull and muted as many would expect.

Jagada Rajappa‘s workshop and ceremony

The next day, the workshops were restricted to those who had originally enrolled, which made more sense. The first workshop was conducted by Linda LaBelle, who is a weaver and natural dyer specialising in indigo. She also runs the website The Yarn Tree that sells fair-trade indigo and other natural dyed items. After yesterday’s observational workshops, I was longing to get my hands dirty. Finally, we got to do some doodling with natural indigo on some cotton fabric that has been pre-dyed in myrobalan. It was a fun session and we got to taste some indigo tea grown by Linda.

Indigo Doodles workshop with Linda LaBelle

The last session was the one I had been looking forward to since I signed up months ago. Buaisou was established in Tokushima by a collective of indigo farmers in 2015, and it is partly responsible for the revival of natural indigo worldwide in recent years. Not only it has over 44K followers on Instagram, it also collaborates frequently with other fashion and textiles companies to promote Japanese indigo and the colour ‘Japan Blue’. Buaisou is renowned for its indigo leaf farming – from cultivating the raw indigo, fermenting the indigo leaves (Sukumo), dyeing, and designing, all the way to production. Since the fermentation process takes around 10 days, Kyoko (the manager) had to arrive 2 weeks earlier to set up the vat.

Since I have previously tried katagami (making paper stencils for dyeing textiles) and katazome (the Japanese method of dyeing fabrics using a resist paste applied through a stencil) with Bryan Whitehead in Japan (see my earlier post), I was quite familiar with the process. This time, I didn’t need to design and cut my own stencils as there were many beautiful and complex precut designs to choose from. We were all given a cotton bandana to work on, and after applying the paste through the stencils, we all took turns to dip the fabric into the indigo vat with some guidance.

I would say this was a taster workshop, and would love to learn more from them when I next visit Tokushima (which was supposed to happen this year but it got cancelled because of COVID-19).

After the workshop, it was time to say goodbye to everyone. Over the four days, I made many new friends from around the world who share the same passion as me, and got the opportunity to chat to many experts in the field, hence the conference has exceeded all my expectations. The fact that it managed to take place just before COVID-19 became a pandemic was extremely lucky.

After exchanging contacts with many attendees, a few of us decided to walk back to town and have dinner together. It was a pleasant walk downhill and we had a fun girls’ night out – something that I haven’t done for a long time.

In the past few years, the pursue of natural dyeing has opened doors for me and enabled me to make new friends from around the world. This was completely unexpected, and it made me realise that I am on the right path.

Aranya Natural & Athulya at Srishti Welfare Centre in Munnar

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Toothpicker

Before visiting Munnar, I was not aware of the health issues related to tea plantation workers in India. Often foreign media would focus on the working conditions of garment factory workers, yet the problems related to tea plantation workers (primarily female) are largely ignored. Although they are not stuck inside cramped factories, tea plantation workers have to deal with other serious safety and health issues. Locals told me that workers not only have to work long hours at low wages, they also have to live together in communial dormitories with poor sanitation at the tea estates. Health awareness among the tea plantation workers is poor, and often they give births to children with various health conditions and disabilities, yet they receive hardly any government support.

In 1991, the Srishti Trust was formed, backed by Tata Tea Limited, to support differently-abled children of the estate workers. Founded by Ratna Krishna Kumar, the Trust launched two major projects: Aranya Natural and Athulya, aiming to rehabilitate local youngsters in a safe and fair environment. Later, Nisarga (the strawberry unit) and The Deli (a bakery and confectionery) were added to make preserves, breads and cookies using locally-grown ingredients.

Most visitors to Munnar would head to the main tourist attractions, but few would seek out the Srishti Welfare Centre. Well, they are really missing out. In 1996, the Srishti Welfare Centre moved to an abandoned shed in Tata Tea’s Nettimudi estate outside of the town centre. Their beautiful site is open to the public and visitors can meet many happy workers who are trained at natural dyeing and paper-making. What started out as an experiment has paid off for Ratna and her all-female team’, now even big corporations have employed the Trust to make paper and textiles-related products.

Aryana Natural is the natural dyeing department at Srishti. All the textiles here are created in a non-toxic environment and all the dyes are azo-free. Many dyes are locally sourced, like eucalyptus, Nilgiri kozha (eupatorium), tea waste, pine cones and other leaves, petals, roots and bark are harvested from the forest nearby. Some specific dyes are sourced elsewhere, like indigo from South India, lac from Jangir Champa, and myrobalan, from traditional medicine shops in Coimbatore. Only natural fabrics such as cotton and silk are used as they work best with natural dyes.

Every newcomer would receive training by volunteered trainers for about six months on skills particular to their aptitude and interests. Each artisan would specialise in at least one technique i.e. shibori or traditional block printing. World-renowned Japanese textile artist and researcher, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, regularly visits and acts as mentor to the young learners. She introduced many traditional Japanese shibori techniques to the trainees, which enable them to develop the skills further. Most of the artisans I spoke to told me that they really enjoy their work, and it was amazing to watch them work – they are fast and very skilled.

Athulya is the handmade paper unit that creates handmade paper from recycle waste paper, cut boards and other stationery waste. It is committed to use only natural additives in their paper, most of them are found around Munnar like tea, eucalyptus leaves, lemon grass, pineapple leaves, onion peel, flower petals, elephant droppings and water hyacinth (which is a weed affecting our back waters).

Now around thirty people work in this unit and they produce over 52 eco-friendly, azo-free, biodegradable recycled paper products by hand. It is also encouraging to see Starbucks hiring the unit to produce their shopping bags.

At the back of the sheds, there are a line of greenhouses growing organic vegetables and plants. Seasonal vegetables are picked and used in the Srishti canteen where nearly two hundred employees have lunch every day. There is also a playground for the staff’s children to play, and an award-winning flower garden that features a wide variety of flowers.

One cannot come here without stopping at the shop. The Aranya Natural shop has to be the most beautiful shop in Munnar. It sells one-of-a-kind handdyed scarves, clothing and home accessories made by the artisans next door. The prices are extremely reasonable and you would not be able to find them elsewhere. If you purchase here, you are directly helping the centre and the artisans, thus making a bold statement supporting sustainable textiles and fashion.

The Srishti Welfare Centre is not only a beautiful site, it is also an inspiring organisation. Before my trip, I knew little about this place, and I am flabbergasted that few people outside of the textiles world have heard of it. If you have only one day in Munnar, make sure that you spare time to visit this centre because it is well worth it.

Aranya Natural’s “The sustainability of natural dyes” conference in Munnar

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Toothpicker

The purpose of my trip to India in February was to attend a natural dyeing conference. And it took place before COVID-19 changed our lives. Aranya Natural is a natural dyeing organisation under Srishti Trust in Munnar, supported by TATA Global Beverages Limited, which runs programs for the education training and rehabilitation of the differently abled children of Munnar’s tea plantation workers. Last year, it was the organisation’s 25th anniversary, and “The sustainability of natural dyes” conference was organised as part of the celebration. However, the conference was postponed by a year after a major flood in Kerala devasted many parts of the state. It was fortunate that the conference managed to take place before COVID-19 started to spread in India, otherwise it would have been cancelled for the second time.

Honestly, I am not a big fan of conference and would rarely volunteerily attend one. Yet this conference was like no other, and I felt that it would be beneficial if I want to continue my natural dyeing practice. To me, natural dyeing is not merely a hobby, it has become my passion and aspiration in recent years. Currently, we are seeing a revival of natural and indigo dyeing as many people realise the harmful effects of synthetic dyes on our bodies and environment.

Left: The conference schedule; Right: A local indigo farmer and conference attendee

The 2-day conference took place at Eastend Hotel in Munnar, bringing dyers, manufacturers, teachers, designers, farmers, and enthusiasts etc together from Indian and around the world. One huge draw for me was the list of speakers, which included experts like Yoshiko Wada, Jenny Balfour Paul, Michel Garcia, Charlotte Kwon (Maiwa), Dominique Cardon, Jagada Rajappa and Buaisou… these are all big names in the natural dyeing and textiles world, so it was a rare opportunity to meet them all in one room.

One factor differentiates Aranya Natural from other organisations – it is an all-women team led by a visionary founder, Ratna Krishnakumar. Since India is a patriarchal society, it is inspiring to see the empowerment of women here. The fact is women in India are likely to face more challenges than women in the West, so being able to run an all-female team here is highly commendable.

The conference also addressed the most important issue that we are facing in the textiles and fashion industry today – sustainability. The rise of fast fashion has done immense damage to our environment in the past decade or so, hence the conference aimed to increase the awareness of natural dyes, and discuss how the industry can shift from using synthetic dyes to more sustainable ones.

Until recently, sustainability has been fashion industry’s last concern. If you trace the path of your favourite item from Primark, then you might be in for a surprise. Your ‘bargain’ £10 shirt probably costs about £3-4 to make, meanwhile the garment factory worker in Bangladesh would receive less than £1 for a day’s work (14-16 hours). Aside from exploitation of these workers, the environmental damage caused by the chemicals used is unaccountable. Although India has had a long history with natural dyes, many garment manufacturers have now switched to synthetic dyes to cope with the high demand from the fast fashion sector. Natural dyes have been pushed aside due to higher costs. lower production rate and more labour intensive.

So, how can we re-introduce natural dyes back into the profit-driven industry? There are no easy answers, but I did meet some young Indian designers at the conference who are using natural dyes to create beautiful designs. I do hope that they will change the landscape of Indian fashion in the future.

Soham Dave and his sustainable collection

When I was still a student years ago, I bought my first shibori book, “Shibori: The Inventive Art Of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing” by artist, author, and curator, Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada. This is an important book to me and I never thought I would get the chance to meet Yoshiko in person, but I did – we even exchanged contacts, and later had dinner together, which all felt a bit surreal. Besides Yoshida, I also spoke to other speakers like Dominique Cardon, Michel Garcia, Axel Becker, Jagada Rajappa, William Ingram from Threads of Life, and Rashmi Bharti, the co-founder of Avani. The conference also enabled me to connect and make friends with attendees from around the world. Many of them are dyers, designers, textiles teachers, and shop owners etc, so I found the whole experience valuable and unforgettable.

The talks on both days covered a wide range of topics relating to sustainability and natural dyeing, but the word ‘indigo’ was a key term at the conference. Indigo is probably the most mysterious and complex natural dye of all. Indigofera is a flowering plant of over 750 species and belongs to the pea family, Fabaceae. It has been in cultivation in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide for many centuries, yet the characteristics of each specie varies and can yield different shades of blue. The world-renowned indigo expert writer, artist and curator, Jenny Balfour-Paul has published several indigo-related books, and she was the last speaker to give a talk on indigo. Not long ago, I read her novel “Deeper than Indigo: Tracing Thomas Machell, Forgotten Explorer“, hence it was interesting to hear her examine the colour ‘blue’ from many angles.

Talks and slides on indigo

On both evenings after the conference, there were entertainments including dance and music performances, violin recital, and fashion show. The fashion show featured natural dyed designs created by Riddhi Jain (Studio Medium), Sreejith Jeevan (Studio Rouka) and Sunita Shankar. Unlike other fashion shows, their show was modelled by workers at Srishti, which was more authentic and fun.

Based in New Dehli, Riddhi Jain is a rising star in India’s fashion world who has won the Elle Decor India Design Awards, International Craft Awards and India Story design awards amongst others. She told me that she employs a small team of artisans and designers to create beautiful hand-dyed and hand-stitched shibori pieces that are one of a kind. I love her designs, and honestly, I would rather spend my money on an unique handmade piece that supports a local craft community than a designer piece that supports its marketing campaigns and executives.

3rd row: Riddhi Jain and her collection; 4th row: Sunita Shankar and her collection; bottom row: Sreejith Jeevan and his collection.

I never knew that conferences could be so exhausting! Besides two full-day talks from 9am to 5pm, I did not anticipate two hours of evening entertainments, followed by dinners at 9 pm on both nights. Despite the lack of rest, I was still looking forward to attending two more days of workshops led by different experts. And I got to visit the beautiful site of Aranya Natural, which is located outside of the polluted town centre.

To be continued…

I loved my conference gift bag

LDF19: Biodesign Here Now at Open Cell

Posted on September 30, 2019 by Toothpicker

After my recent visit to the biotech hub Open Cell at the Shepherds Bush Market, I was keen to learn more about biodesign and its future. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long because at the London Design Festival this year, Open Cell organised an event called Biodesign Here Now at its premise over one weekend.

The event showcased over 30 emerging international designers and startups with innovative ideas that are breaking boundaries between biology, design, and technology. Although I missed the fashion show on the opening night, I did manage to visit the exhibition and listen to some designers talk about their projects.

Yggdrasil – an architecture collective of PhD researchers from Newcastle University specialising in living technologies for the future. Our mission is to challenge conventional methods of construction by proposing an ecocentric alternative. We believe that the buildings of the future should be living, breathing and inclusive of nature.

Paula Nerlich – her current research explores vegan biodegradable bioplastics and foams from industrial and household food waste with diverse possible applications within interiors and product design.

Nina Jotanovic (in collaboration with Bartlett School of Architecture) – ‘Biogenic Luminosity’ is a research project that questions ‘flat’ appearance and unsustainability of synthetic materials in comparison to those of biogenic and geologic origin.

Mohammad Jawad – Manufactured by Nature: Growing Generatively Designed Products

Post Carbon Lab – a design research studio launched their service pilots of two pioneering microbiological processes for sustainable and regenerative fashion applications: Bacterial Pigment Dyeing and Photosynthesis Coating on fabrics and garments.

Aurelie Fontan is a sustainable fashion designer, with a focus on bio-design and circular economy (including zero-waste production methods in texture making and cutting). Her collection includes a bio-designed dress from bacteria, recycled materials and four fully recycled leather outfits, none of them being sewn together but rather linked through innovative re-usable elements that allow complete disassembly and recycling.

Piero D’Angelo’s Wetwear Couture uses Physarum Polycephalum/slime mould to create fascinating fashion pieces

Nicole Stjernswärd – KAIKU Living Color is a sustainable alternative to colours made from petroleum. KAIKU uses plant waste to create natural powder pigments. Many plants & fruits we eat every day, such as avocados, onions, and oranges, have valuable colors within their skins and peels. Normally these are left to rot in landfills, but KAIKU transforms this waste into a high value resource.

Nikoletta Karastathi & Zafer Tandogdu’s ‘Awareness of the Microbial World’ explores antimicrobial resistance and the human-microbe relationship as key concepts for creating bio-textile.

Carolyn Raff uses Agar Agar, an algae based gelatin substitute for many different experiments as a new kind of bioplastic. The complete biodegradable material can be created in many different shades, looks and structures. It is dyed with natural dye, mainly with algae based colours, such as astaxanthin and phycocyanin.

Top & bottom left: Mira Nameth – ‘Biophilica’ is the result of a year long material development, working with plant-based resources. Biophilica materials are truly local, biodegradable, and recyclable.

Bottom right: Chiara Tommencioni Pisapia – ‘Made by moths’ is a project that investigates the potential of clothes moths and their digestive enzymes as collaborators in selecting and breaking down keratin-based textile-waste.

Silvio Tinello – ‘Grown Objects’ is a collection where all the producrs have been bio-fabricated. This means, grown and harvested using biological processes. Grown in two predominant materials: A fungi bio agglomerate and bacterial cellulose, both grown in yerba mate: part of the “argentine cultural DNA’.

Left: Lah Studio – ‘The Resistance Runner’ is a bio-formulated shoe that utilizes cloned bacteriocins and micrococcus in a nutrient broth cocktail; essentially harnessing the bacteria’s own defense system as a protective layer.

Right: MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces group creates ‘Wearable Lab on Body’ wearable systems and interfaces for cognitive enhancement.

Valentina Dipietro – ‘Mychrome’ is a project that explores the possibility of mycelium and its surface applications. Mycelium is the vegetative part of mushrooms and it has been used to bind agricultural waste and create new sustainable materials which are naturally fire retardant, insulating and sound-absorbing. Dipietro likes to focus on designing with waste as well as using it as a pigment to dye and finish her materials.

Midushi Kochhar – ‘A waste project’ is made from by-products of poultry industry, namely, eggshells and feathers. The aim is to create alternatives for plastic disposables and encourage sustainable living. All the objects are 100% biodegradable and once their purpose is over, they can literally be crushed and thrown away in the compost.

Pat Pataranutaporn from MIT gave a talk on the future of ‘Wearable Lab on Body’

Denimaize gave a talk on denim made from corn husk

The last talk of the day was by Denimaize, a studio from the University of Pennsylvania, which includes bio-designers, artists and engineers. They use wasted and diseased corn husks and process them to extract their cellulose fibers. The corn fibers are spun with flax and woven in a twill pattern. The fabric is then coloured with microbial dye and relaxed with cellulase enzymes. Denimaize is a response to the dominance of the corn crop in the U.S. and the waste it generates, as well as the pollution in the denim industry. Denimaize is proposing a biological (albeit corny) alternative to the old way of denim processing.

The weekend event was interesting and inspiring, and it is very encouraging to see so many designers, startups and innovators coming up with sustainable solutions to address the issues our planet is facing right now. Sustainability is not a trend, it has to be here to stay for the sake of our future.

A visit to the Biotech hub, Open Cell

Posted on September 16, 2019 by Toothpicker

Shepherds Bush market

In the last few years, we are hearing more of the terms ‘biodesign’ and ‘biotech’, but is it a fad or a breakthrough that will change our world? Recently, I joined a design-oriented walk called ‘Human: Biophilia in community and design’ organised by the Design Museum and curated by Something & Son to find out more about the biophilic communities and projects that is taking place in London today.

It has been years since I visited the Shepherds Bush market, and I was surprised to learn that a biotech hub is now situated in the middle of the market. Opened last year, Open Cell is a biotech hub for startups and designers located at the Old Laundry Yard, with 45 shipping containers that have been converted into labs, workshops and office space. Founded by Helene Steiner and Dr Thomas Meany, they aim to create a low-cost labspace with a user-centric focus, and provide a flexible testbed where innovative lab designs can be rapidly installed and tested.

We were greeted by Helene Steiner at the yard, and she gave us a tour around the area and explained about the work they do. I found it encouraging to see these affordable and community-driven labs because as many of the world resources are becoming scarcer, it makes sense to use the living organism around us to create alternative, innovative and sustainable materials for our future.

We met a bio fashion designer Piero D’Angelo who uses slim mould to create textiles and fashion, which is absoultely fascinating. The slime mould would also release a scent that makes people aware of any pollution in the surroundings. I never thought I would want slime mould on my skin, but maybe it is time to change my preconception.

Piero D’Angelo

We also met with three architects Paola Garnousset, Pierre de Pingon and Martin Detoeuf, who are the founders of Blast Studio. The collective uses mycelium, the root network of mushrooms, and coffee cup waste to create a series of homeware and furniture called ‘lovely trash’. Since 500 billion coffee cups are discarded globally and mostly end up in land, this project is a great way to upcycle these coffee cups. The cups are processed into a substrate that enables the mycelium to be fed on. This mycelium material can be transformed into vases and furniture through the 3-D laser printer. The results are very interesting and look almost like ceramics!

Blast Studio

The tour of the Open Cell lab was eye-opening, and it has given me more hope about the future. I believe that not only the way we consume has to change, but sustainable innovations are necessary to change our future, and hopefully biodesign/ biotechnology will play a crucial role in the years/decades to come.

Sustainable fashion and textiles – it’s not too late to change.

Posted on August 10, 2019 by Toothpicker

Fashioned from Nature exhibition at The V & A museum

It is time to face the truth: the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. This is not fake news, it is a fact.

Confession 1: I am guilty of polluting the environment, and I have been doing it for decades without being fully aware of it. I think most of us have. Yet we cannot go on ignoring the consequences of our unintentional actions.

Confession 2: I have always loved fashion, and I even worked in the industry briefly in my 20s. I have bought countless of clothing and accessories at sales without wearing them, and I ended up selling most of my stuff on ebay or donating them to Oxfam.

Fashioned from Nature: Designing a Sustainable Future conference at The V & A museum

Last year, I visited the Fashion from nature exhibition at The V & A museum and attended the Fashioned from Nature: Designing a Sustainable Future conference that accompanied the exhibition. Then back in Jan, I visited the Future Fabrics Expo orgainsed by the non-profit organisation, The Sustainable Angle. I figured that in order to be a better consumer/designer/retailer, I’d better educate myself first.

Over the last few years, I made a conscious decision to change the way I consume, and I went about it in several ways:

I unsubscribed myself from newsletters sent by most fashion companies, and I rarely go out to shop for clothing unless it is essential.

If I see fashion items I like in the shops or online, I would not buy immediately. I would wait a few weeks and if I love it THAT much, then I would check again to see if it is still available. Most of the time, the item would either be sold out or I have completely forgotten about it.

I always check the fabrics and materials. If you think cotton is good, think again. Cotton production actually requires huge quantities of land, water, fertilisers and pesticides, and has a negative impact on the environment. Organic cotton is a more eco-friendly option.

After I started to learn about natural dyeing, I became more aware of the negative impact that synthetic dyes have on the environment. Although natural dyed items requires a lot of water and are more expensive to produce, they are much preferable to the synthetic ones.

Go vintage… I rummaged around my wardrobe and found many hardly-worn items bought years ago that still look good today. Mixing old with new is what I like to do these days.

Mend or upcycle your clothing – I think it can be fun and creative. I have already put a pile of old cotton t-shirts aside to be dyed naturally. I can’t wait to redesign them!

Sell unwanted clothing and accessories online – I have been doing it for years and have sold many items that I no longer wear on ebay and other websites. If the item has sat in the wardrobe untouched for over 2 years, then it’s time to review it.

Buy good quality and timeless pieces that would not look outdated in 10 or even 20 years’ time. Luckily, I have never really been into fast fashion, so I have items from 10 to 15 years ago that I can still wear without cringing about them.

Buy from sustainable fashion brands that actually care about the environment and workers.

Last but not least – simply buy less.

In the last few years, there are many interesting sustainable fashion brands that offer consumers alternative options, and even the big fast fashion brands are making changes or introducing new eco lines. Aside from pioneers like Stella McCartney, People Tree, Komodo and Patagonia, there are others like Bethany Williams, Aiayu, Ecoalf, Beaumont Organic, Thought, Armedangels, Lowie, Bibico, PIC style, Vildnis, EKO, G-Star Raw, King of Indigo, Lemuel MC and Veja… to name a few.

You can also learn more about the issues and secrets of the fashion world through the following documentaries:

The true cost directed by Andrew Morgan.

Riverblue directed by David McIlvride and Roger Williams.

Dirty white gold directed by Lee Borromeo.

China Blue, Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town trilogy and Bitter seeds are part of the Globalization trilogy directed by Micha Peled

The Machinists directed by Hannan Majid and Richard York

Machines directed by Rahul Jain

The next black on the future of fashion (free to watch)

Alex James: Slowing Down Fast Fashion

Stacey Dooley Investigates Fashions Dirty Secrets

It is never to late to change our buying habits, and if we all become more aware of what and how we consume, it will inevitably bring about changes and have a more positive impact on our planet.

Kevin Cheung’s design studio visit at Blue House, Hong Kong

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Toothpicker

I have been writing a lot about Hong Kong’s heritage lately, and coincidentally when I contacted Kevin Cheung, a local upcycling designer, he invited me to meet him at his home studio, which is also located inside a heritage building: the Grade I listed Blue House in Wan Chai.

The Blue House Cluster consists of three interconnected buildings: Blue House, Yellow House, and Orange House. The revitalisation project was part of a HK$100 million plan by the Government to preserve nine Chinese-style buildings in Wan Chai built during the 1920s. Conservation architect CM Lee and LWK & Partners Architects were commissioned to renovate the Blue House. Unlike other heritage projects in Hong Kong, this people-led heritage conservation project focuses on revitalising community relationships and developing a community-oriented and sustainable economy. Former residents were also invited to move back in. Opened in 2016, the project was rewarded the Award of Excellence in the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2017.

Before the renovation

The Blue House is a four-storey Lingnan-style house built in 1922 with a mixture of Chinese and Western architectural features. The distinctive blue colour was not a deliberate aesthetic decision — the decorators only had blue paint, so a blue house it became. In the 1950s and 1960s, kung fu master Wong Fei-hung’s student Lam Sai-wing and his nephew launched their kung fu studio here.

The ground floor shop now houses the Hong Kong House of Stories, which aims to preserve the neighbourhood’s heritage and promote local culture through community art and activities. Free guided tours of the Blue House are also available on Saturdays.

At the Blue House, a co-living membership scheme ‘Good Neighbour’ was launched to create a sustainable community and preserve the lifestyle of the traditional Tong Lau (where community spirit was key). Out of the 32 units, 11 flats are available for rental provided the tenants are willing to contribue towards building a community, sharing their life experiences and skills, and collaborate with their neighbours to create a supportive and responsible environment for all. To be honest, I was very surprised to learn that this type of co-living scheme exists in Hong Kong – I applaud the implementers for this forward-thinking plan.

Kevin‘s home studio is located on the 2nd floor at the back of the Blue House complex. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by his friendly parrot. His studio is bright with big colonial-style windows and high ceiling where he has hung a few rows of illuminated bottles made from waste PET bottles. When I looked around his studio, I could see all sorts of upcycled products including another set of LED lighing made from old bicycle rims, speaker systems and guitar made from waste plastic containers, document bags made from leftover felt carpets collected from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, and wallets made from wallpaper samples etc.

Kevin is a very open and friendly guy, and I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to him. Although we agreed that it is almost impossible to be completely waste-free and carbon-free, but we can still strive towards that goal. For years, Kevin has been experimenting with waste materials and has collaborated with different NGOs and traditional craftsmen to produce upcycled products locally. He also spent one month staying at Japan’s zero-waste village, Kamikatsu, to learn from the villagers on how to recycle, and eliminate the use of landfills and incinerators. As his contribution to the building’s ‘good neighbour scheme’, he volunteered to take over the recycling scheme at the Blue House, and runs upcycling workshops for residents and the public to tackle the waste issue in Hong Kong.

Like Kevin, I firmly believe that designers, manufacturers and shop owners have the responsibility to create positive changes and change the world for the better. A consumption-driven society is not sustainable, and we have to be more aware of our actions.

I think Kevin‘s works are creative, interesting and fun; I particularly like his upcycled rice bells that are made out of aluminium waste from discarded rice cookers. Since rice cooker is a ubiquitous household appliance in Hong Kong, I doubt he will ever run out of material. Working with a local metal craftsman, the rice bowl is flattened first, and then pressed into dome shapes, followed by trimming, assembling and coating. Each bell is unique and has different patterns/colours/characteristics.

His first upcycled design, Boombottle is a speaker system made from a waste plastic container. The plastic bottle is air sealed, waterproof and rugged, yet has a large internal volume, making it a nice speaker enclosure. The speaker is also portable, and glows in the dark due to the LED light inside. I bought a smaller boombottle lite, which I think would work well with my computer as a desk speaker. It is not Bose, but at least I know that I am supporting a good cause, which is important to me.

Boombottle Lite speaker

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The scene behind India’s cotton production

Posted on May 8, 2019 by Toothpicker

India is the world’s largest producer of cotton (it surpassed China recently), while Gujarat is the largest cotton producing state in India with a production of 125 Lakh Bales. Cotton is considered not only the most important fibre crop in India but the entire world.

Cotton is the most popular cellulose fibre in the textiles and fashion industry, yet it uses more than half the chemical pesticides used in the entire agricultural production in India. In fact, cotton production is very unsustainable and poses serious challenges to the environment through the excessive use of inputs like water, fertilizers and pesticides.

Although most of us consider cotton as a preferable fibre to other synthetic fibres, few of us actually know much about the process of cotton production. Our visit to a cotton production factory in Kutch was an eye-opening experience, and it made me think hard about my consumption habit and how it has to change in the future.

The cotton plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, Egypt and India. The essential requirement for growing cotton crop is high temperature varying between 21°C and 30°C.

Cotton is a kharif crop which requires 6 to 8 months to mature. Traditionally, cotton production takes about 10,000 litres of water to produce one kilogramme of cotton fabric. And since India’s cotton is grown in drier regions, government subsidises the costs of farmers’ electric pumps, placing no limits on the volumes of groundwater extracted at little or no cost. This has created a widespread pattern of unsustainable water use and strained electrical grids.

So what happens after the cotton has been picked? Raw cotton is then brought to the ginning mills or factories to be cleaned and processed, and we visited one of them in Kutch. From afar, the raw cotton looked like mountains of snow – I have never seen so much cotton before, and it looked incredibly fluffy!

However, when we entered the factory, it was another story… the dark and polluted environment was shocking. We could barely breathe properly inside, and I had to take out and wear my ’emergency’ face mask immeditately. The factory was filled with cotton dust – a mixture of many substances including ground up plant matter, fibre, bacteria, fungi, soil, pesticides, non cotton plant matter and other contaminants. Yet in this appalling condition, none of the young workers there were wearing face masks, which made us question our guide about the ethics of the factory.

The guide told us that the factory boss does provide face masks for the workers, though they refuse to wear them. He claimed that even social workers have tried to persuade them but failed. I found it a bit hard to understand, and said that the government needs to impose stricter safety regulations and fines in order to protect the workers’ health and safety. Even though we didn’t spend a long time inside the factory, we were already finding the air inhalable and very toxic; it was inconceivable to think that the workers have to work in this hazardous environment all day long. I am sure that the young workers here would develop respiratory-related illnesses from this. Yet this factory is only one of many in the region/ country; the overall situation is probably more horrific and depressing.

As we left the factory, I felt quite upset and helpless. The tour has made me reconsider my consumption habit and it reminded me of the importance of supporting eco-conscious fashion and textiles. Although I can’t help the situations of the workers, I hope that I can spread the message and let consumers understand the truth about the cheap cotton t-shirts and other garments that are costing lives of so many around the world.

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Category Archives: sustainability