Wearable pineapple fibres could prove sustainable alternative to leather | Business At weddings and formal events in the Philippines, men can often be seen wearing the Barong Tagalog, a thin and transparent embroidered garment worn over a shirt. One of the more surprising materials used in its manufacture are fibres from pineapple leaves – and long strands of the leaves could soon also be used to make a host of other products, from trainers and clothes to bags and car upholstery. Called Piñatex - piña is Spanish for pineapple - the new material was created by Carmen Hijosa, who worked as a consultant in the Philippines leather goods industry in the 1990s. She was unimpressed with the standard of goods produced and started to look for alternatives. The breakthrough came when Hijosa realised that she could make a non-woven mesh – a fabric which is bonded together without knitting or weaving – from the long fibres, in a similar way to felt. The fibres that make up Piñatex are extracted from pineapple leaves on plantations by farmers before they are cut up and layered.
Sustainable fashion: top 20 tweeters | Guardian Sustainable Business As we near the first anniversary of Bangladesh's Rana Plaza factory collapse, it's a good time to take check on the fashion industry and where it's at in terms of its social and environmental impacts. Here, we've collected 20 of the best tweeters to help keep you informed, from journalists to textile consultants and charities. We've featured some of your suggestions from last year but we always welcome more. Please pop them into the comments section below. To join the wider #whereyouwear conversation around clothes provenance, submit a snapshot of yourself explaining where your outfit was made via Guardian Witness. Lucy Seigle Journalist for the Observer and author of To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World? — lucy siegle (@lucysiegle)February 21, 2014This is what your rubbish goes in if you live in Mayfair pic.twitter.com/WNqnkOCB6E Arthur and Henry Arthur and Henry is a London based menswear retailer which sells organic and fair trade garments. Lucy Shea Livia Firth Fashion Revolution
Fashion meets renewable energy – clothes that charge your smartphone | Sustainable-business When you think about how fashion will work alongside technology in the future, it might be hard to break from science-fiction-heavy ideas. However, fashionably using solar, wind and even kinetic energy to charge devices, keep us connected and even donate our energy to non-profits is being explored by a number of design houses. Solar textiles Meg Grant, of Solar Fiber, says she and co-collaborators Aniela Hoitink, Marina Toeters, Ralf Jacobs, and Professor Derek Schlettwein from Giessen University are already pushing the textile boundaries in terms of solar fibres. "If you look around you, textiles cover so many surfaces, so why not give them a 'super power' that can take advantage of this, like solar energy harvesting," says Grant. The idea behind Solar Fiber is a flexible photovoltaic fibre that converts sunlight energy into electrical energy via a yarn that can be worked into all sorts of fabrics. Kinetic energy Energy harvesting The sustainable fashion hub is funded by H&M.
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Topshop Goes Green With "Reclaim" Collection of Upcycled Clothing Trish Clarke, Topshop’s head of technical services, says the collection provides an “ethical solution to disregarded material” through the retailer’s design lens. “We are inspired to challenge textile waste across our product areas, whilst still creating versatile designs that are wardrobe essentials for our customers,” Clarke says. “From ‘70s button-down dresses, to sheer-panel printed blouses, we want everyday fashion to be sustainable in Topshop’s portfolio and blueprint.” RELATED | Topshop Debuts Third Upcycled “Reclaim to Wear” Line Prices for the collection range from $22 for a ribbed camisole to $125 for a one-piece romper. Reclaim to Wear’s de Castro says she’s proud of the legacy her consultancy has left behind. Topshop previously created a line of recycled denim with musician Pharrell Williams’s Bionic Yarn firm, as well as a series of ethically produced coats with local designer Izzy Lane. + Topshop Reclaim + Topshop
Sustainable fashion 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. Origin and purpose[edit] Materials[edit] There are many factors when considering the sustainability of a material. The renewability and source of a fiber, the process of how a raw fiber is turned into a textile, the working conditions of the people producing the materials, and the material's total carbon footprint. Natural fibres[edit] Natural Fibres are fibres which are found in nature and are not petroleum-based. Cellulose[edit] Protein[edit] Wool, Silk, Angora, Camel, Alpaca, Llama, Vicuna, Cashmere, Mohair Manufactured[edit] from natural materials: Lyocell,e- Polylactic acid or PLA (Corn Polymer) Recycled fibers[edit] Upcycled fibers[edit] Designers[edit] Organizations[edit] Controversy[edit] Recently,[when?] Future of fashion sustainability[edit]
Discrimination during maternity leave and on return to work | Maternity Action April 2018 The law protects you against unfair treatment and dismissal because of childbirth or because you have taken maternity leave. This information sheet looks at your rights during maternity leave and on return to work. It covers: discrimination during maternity leaverights during maternity leavereturning to work after maternity leaveresigning during or after maternity leavehow to resolve disputes at work, andbenefits for families. If you have been dismissed or treated unfairly during pregnancy, see the information sheet Pregnancy Discrimination. Your rights during maternity leave: See Pregnant at work, for more information on your rights during pregnancy and maternity leave. Discrimination during maternity leave What is maternity discrimination? The law says that it is discrimination to treat a woman unfavourably on the grounds of her pregnancy or maternity leave (Equality Act 2010 s18). This information sheet covers discrimination during maternity leave and on return to work. Example
Raw for the Oceans « Ecouterre Bionic Yarn estimates that the full collection employs an estimated 10 tons of recycled marine debris. The line, which includes T-shirts, hoodies, boilersuits, trench coats, bomber jackets, jeans, and baseball caps in dark blue and black, features subtle detailing, plus original motifs based on its “Otto the Octopus” logo. RELATED | Pharrell, G-Star Raw Create Denim Made From Recycled Ocean Plastic Raw for the Oceans will be available for men and women in September, but it’s already making an impression. The Cannes Lions jury awarded the line with the Grand Prix for its inaugural product-design category. “The end result was the clothing itself,” U.S. judge Dan Formosa, a designer at Smart Design, told Ad Age. + Raw for the Oceans + G-Star Raw
Holiday entitlement: Calculate leave entitlement Annual leave begins to build up (‘accrue’) as soon as a worker starts their job. An employer can use a ‘leave year’ or an ‘accrual’ system to work out how much leave their staff should get. Leave year An employer must usually tell their staff the dates of their statutory leave year as soon as they start working, for example, it might run from 1 January to 31 December. Workers must take their statutory leave during this time. on the first day of a new job (if started after 1 October 1998) on 1 October (if started on or before 1 October 1998) The leave year and holiday entitlement is not affected by maternity, paternity or adoption leave. Leave entitlement when starting a new job If a worker starts their job part-way through a leave year, they’re only entitled to part of their total annual leave for the current leave year. Accrual system An employer can use an accrual system to work out a worker’s leave during the first year of the job. Carrying over leave
Entitlements during Statutory Maternity Leave | nidirect Your employment terms, including your pension contributions and holiday entitlement, are protected while you are on Statutory Maternity Leave. If you are made redundant while on Statutory Maternity Leave you also have extra rights. Jump to table of contents Employment terms and conditions during maternity leave While you are on Statutory Maternity Leave your employment terms and conditions are protected. This might include any access to benefits you have as part of your employment contract, for example a company car or mobile phone. Employment terms and conditions Pension contributions during Statutory Maternity Leave If your employer contributes to an occupational pension scheme, they must carry on making their usual contributions: for the whole time you are on ordinary maternity leave - which is the first 26 weeks of your Statutory Maternity Leavefor any time you are receiving any Statutory Maternity Payfor any time you are receiving contractual maternity pay Holiday entitlement Redundancy