Kaia Evulich

This week I attended some events put on by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health for Public Health Week. One of these events was titled the "Human Aid Art Mart", which a student group called the "Health Not Punishment Collective" (HNP). One of the group's goals for the event was to sell shirts they made in an effort to raise money for LA's unhoused population. The individual who made all the shirts described how she reused old shirts and used ink and stencils to print and transfer designs. She informed that during the protests on campus last spring, they were able to produce these shirts while in the encampment. I thought it was very interesting how all the pieces were created by hand with minimal new materials purchased. This practice is not only climate friendly through the use of sustainable materials, but also through creating the product in a manner that reduces energy consumption and pollution production. According to Project Drawdown, industry, including clothing production, "requires the use of energy-hungry machines, furnaces, and boilers," making it responsible for 21% of greenhouse gas emissions. By shifting practices away from using such machines and factory practices, sustainable clothing production can be achieved. I was very moved by the work of HNP, and it has encouraged me to be more conscious of where I buy my clothes from, my reasoning for making new purchases, and my practices when disposing of unused clothing items. While I still have a long way to go in my learning in this area, the event HNP put on was a great catalyst for learning more about how I can practice sustainable fashion on an individual level.