Big Closets Small Planet

Big Closets Small Planet

By Michael SchraggerBusinessEducation
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Big Closets Small Planet episodes

  • INSPIRING INNOVATION: Can a simple phone call make invisible workers visible?

    Dr. Lea Esterhuizen, an expert in gathering sensitive data from scared populations, believes we are unwittingly eating and wearing products that have likely been made or assembled using forced labor. Typically the apparel industry has used the "social audit" to address this problem. But social audits provide an incomplete picture of the situation. "There is a serious problem with worker invisibility". And that is why Lea started &Wider. Listen in to hear Lea describe her company's elegant method to enhance social auditing by gathering anonymous data from workers - making the invisible visible. To paraphrase Lea, fast fashion has been toxic, but it has also taught brands to be fast and innovative.

    This podcast is supported by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    14 min
  • INDUSTRY UPDATE: Finance & Innovation - Today's financing models don't cut it. We need new approaches that are structured in a way to help reduce risk for all parties involved.

    Mike had the unique opportunity to sit down with an impact investor and a vertical manufacturer to share their real world views on what it takes to accelerate the uptake of sustainable apparel technologies in the apparel supply chain. Tanvi Karambelkar, representing the newly launched Good Fashion Fund, introduces the fund's pioneering approach for providing financing to manufacturers who want to invest in high impact but often disruptive technologies - which are very high risk. Abhishek Bansal, representing Arvind - a vertical manufacturer based in India, describes the challenge of implementing radically new technologies in practice. Listen in as these two experts break down the complexities, share their views on larger industry trends and highlight what needs to happen to transform the industry in the short and longer terms. "The problem with the textile industry is that it is still seen as a niche. But the problems we are solving with our fund are universal..." This is a great learning conversation, if we do say so ourselves! We hope you agree.

    This podcast is supported by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    48 min
  • INDUSTRY UPDATE: Sound the alarm? Or have we overestimated the problems associated with microfibers & microplastics?!?
    Between 2014 and 2016, an increasing number of journalists began reporting on disturbing new research showing that microfibers from synthetic garments were making their way from our washing machines into fish and other aquatic animals. Since then the textile industry has been scrambling to understand the extent of the problem and what our industry should do about it. It's now 2019, so what more have we learned since researchers first sounded the alarm? And what is our industry currently doing to address the challenge? Mike sat down with Sophie Mather from The Microfibre Consortium to get updated. Sophie has been working at the forefront of this issue, so there is no one better to provide a "state of play" on this topic. Listen for the first 25 minutes to get a comprehensive industry update and continue listening to dive deeper into the weeds. This podcast is supported by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.
    47 min
  • INSPIRING INNOVATION: The robots are coming! This development may be good for the environment, but is this the beginning of the end for garment workers in production countries?
    The United States Military is required to make their clothing in the United States. But because very little clothing is produced in the United States today, the U.S. Military needed to find alternative solutions. Enter Pete Santora, who launched SoftWear Automation 13 years ago to respond to this challenge. Today his technology, which automates sewing by using robotics, is ready to be scaled not only in the U.S., but around the world. In this fascinating, fast paced discussion Pete and Mike discuss the environmental benefits of automation, Pete's perspectives on whether his technology will make garment workers in production countries obsolete ("Robotics did not kill the automotive industry, tariffs did..."), and why joint ventures and increased R&D investment are the only ways to accelerate the transformation of the apparel and textiles industry. Think google vs. the textile industry... This podcast is supported by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.
    18 min
  • INDUSTRY UPDATE: A Sexy Update on the State of Chemical Management in Textiles Today. "As consumers, we've probably never been safer. As citizens, we have probably never been more unsafe..."

    At Planet Textiles, Mike Schragger spoke with two of his favorite chemical and textiles experts, Phil Patterson and Linda Greer, about the state of the industry regarding chemical management in textiles today. If this does not sound sexy to you, then you don't know Phil and Linda! In addition to getting a primer on chemical history and good and bad chemicals (hint: salt and starch can be bad too, in case you were wondering...), Phil and Linda get "into the weeds" by addressing some of the most important issues debated today, such as: 1) does the high profile ZDHC initiative, which a significant number of key players have joined, have the potential to make a significant difference; 2) if Greenpeace's sudden departure as a textile watchdog is a serious blow to those who want to accelerate change; and 3) where innovation is and should be taking place. They agree and disagree, and their answers will surprise and delight you - and hopefully make you smarter.

    This podcast is supported by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    57 min
  • INSPIRING INNOVATION: Subcritical water… what the "!#@%" is that? And what can it do for the apparel industry?

    The founders of Tyton BioSciences are not personally interested in fashion, but that won't stop them from using subcritical water to help solve the current textile-recycling conundrum. Mike Schragger talks to Luke Henning, CFO of Tyton, about their unique process for separating cellulose from polyester in blended materials.

    This podcast is sponsored by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    15 min
  • INSPIRING INNOVATION: Apparel industry = waste.

    Nearly 6 million tons of leftover textiles - the equivalent 18 million new clothes - are wasted in South East Asia and China alone. If we could remanufacture these textiles and reuse them, or ensure we only produce what we need when we need it, we may be able to significantly reduce the environmental impacts of clothing production and support the transition to a circular fashion system. Mike Schragger talks with Nin Castle from Reverse Resources and Ian Brown and Dale Floer from Scalable Garment Technologies about their groundbreaking solutions for turning mountains of textile waste into valuable resources and for reducing the amount of waste overall. Are you curious what their innovative solutions are? Think data mining, a textile waste marketplace and 3D printing inspired knitting machines!

    This podcast is sponsored by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    35 min
  • BUSINESS LEADERSHIP: Climate Action - The H&M group boldly committed to becoming climate positive by 2040. But getting there requires unprecedented leadership and change. Is the H&M group in over its head? And what can the H&M group's journey teach us a

    In a refreshingly candid and constructive interview, Mike spoke with the H&M group's Kim Hällström about what has happened since the company first made their important public climate commitment and what we can learn from the H&M group's insights and experiences in order to help the entire apparel industry reduce its emissions in line with a 1,5 degree warming pathway. Considering we are in a state of emergency when it comes to global heating, this is an interview you can't afford to miss.

    This podcast is sponsored by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    50 min
  • INSPIRING INNOVATION: What if using your credit card to purchase clothing could actually help combat global warming?

    If we knew the specific climate impacts of each of our purchases, such as the greenhouse gas emissions of our favourite dress or shoes, would we make more climate friendly purchases? And would the companies who make fashion and apparel products – now knowing that we know the climate impacts of our clothing purchases - offer more climate friendly options? In other words, can consumption and effective climate action go hand-in-hand or are we kidding ourselves? Mike spoke with Johan Pihl and Jacob Odqvist, two entrepreneurs who are developing a number of solutions that they say will make it easier for you and me – as consumers – to fight climate change.

    This podcast is supported by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    33 min
  • THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: Innovation - Edwin Keh thinks that to solve the fashion industry's sustainability challenges we need to radically rethink R&D.

    Mike speaks with Edwin Keh, CEO of the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles & Apparel Limited, about his team's pioneering and surprising breakthrough in the area of textile recycling, his deep conviction that to accelerate the development and uptake of sustainable solutions our industry needs to do R&D very differently, and why industry innovation - for its own sake - is misguided. And if that's not interesting enough for you, the "professor," as Mike refers to him, also weighs in on the historical relationship between China and "the West", the fundamental limitations of today's business models, and why he has become the "favorite son-in-law."

    This podcast is supported by the C&A Foundation, the H&M Foundation, The Rylander Foundation, and Tencel. It is produced in collaboration with Ecotextile News.

    46 min

About Big Closets Small Planet

From the publisher's feed

Fashion and apparel. It touches nearly everyone. When its at its best, fashion and apparel is not only functional, but also fun, expressive, sexy, and for some businesses, very profitable. But when it is at its worst, fashion and apparel is superficial, exploitative, polluting and extremely wasteful - in other words the essence of unsustainable consumption. And while it is argued that the industry's rapid growth has created employment opportunities for more than 300 million people worldwide, especially for women in poorer countries and those in extreme poverty, many garment workers still struggle to earn enough to pay to meet even their most basic needs. More alarming is the fact that as the industry grows - by 2030 more than 8 billion people will live on the planet, and nearly 5 billion of these will be part of the global middle class - its negative environmental impacts may become unmanageable, potentially undermining its social benefits and contributing to ecosystem degradation on local, regional and global scales.