Wool you wear it? – woollen garments in Norway and the United Kingdom

ingridha on 24. august 2016

Marie Hebrok, Ingun G. Klepp & Joanne Turney

Abstract

This article was developed from the project ‘Valuing Norwegian Wool’ initiated by the Norwegian National Institute for Consumer Research to generate knowledge on how wool can contribute to sustainable textile consumption, and how value creation can be increased in the Norwegian wool industry. The article will compare consumer perceptions, attitudes, practices and knowledge concerning wool as a material and as garments in Norway and in the United Kingdom, through a case study of wardrobes owned by six middle-class families.

The aim is to generate knowledge about the diverse web of aspects that influence consumption of woollen garments. The wardrobe study as a method aims to include the materiality of garments in clothes research in a more direct way. Analysing the materiality in connection with the social and cultural aspects of clothes gives us a better understanding of the relations between materiality and practice.

Click here to read the full article (southampton.ac.uk)

Why Cotton as Linen? The Use of Wool in Beds in Norway

ingridha on 22. august 2016

Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Tone Skårdal Tobiasson & Kirsi Laitala

Abstract

Cotton is the “natural” choice and the dominating material in bed linen and sleepwear in Norway as in many other European countries. Regulation of temperature and humidity are important for good sleep, but they are not cotton’s strong points. There must have been other than the functional reasons which made cotton the winner in the bedding market. This article builds on literature about bedding in Norway from the 1800s and survey questions from 1951. We ask the question: what materials have been used and why? Wool was used in all bed textiles, both closest to the body and the layers over and under, from the cheapest chopped rags to the most costly textiles. The decline was seen throughout the 1800 and 1900s, but only in the 1960s does wool become totally absent as a next to skin bed textile. The cheap imports of cotton made cottage industry and home production unprofitable and the new emphasis on cleanliness gave cotton a clear leverage.

Click here to read the full article (tandfonline.com)

Klærs levetid – LCA på liv og død

ingridha on 24. januar 2016

Ingun Grimstad Klepp & Kirsi Laitala

Innledning

Et av de mest fremtredende trekkene ved de siste 50 års tekstilforbruk er veksten i mengde. Import av klær har økt med 67 % i de siste tjue årene, og ligger nå på 15 kg per innbygger i Norge (SSB, 2014). Vi vet lite om denne veksten, men at den henger sammen med en nedgang i priser og en oppgang i kjøpekraft, er åpenbar. I samme periode har andelen av husholdningenes forbruk av klær og sko falt fra 6,6 % til 5,4 % av utgiftene (SSB, 1999, 2013). Til tross for denne nedgangen har klesforbruket målt i volum økt. Dette har ikke skjedd uten miljøkonsekvenser. Carbon trust (2011) har estimert at 3 % av globale klimautslipp, målt i CO2-ekvivalenter, stammer fra produksjon og vask av klær. I tillegg kommer utslipp av skadelige kjemikalier, uetiske arbeidsforhold, problemer med dyrevelferd, og høyt forbruk av energi, vann og land-arealer (Fletcher, 2008).

Livsløpsanalyser (LCA) blir brukt for å skaffe informasjon om de totale miljøpåvirkningene av et produkt eller en aktivitet. LCA-studiene brukes blant annet som grunnlag for ulike typer verktøy som gir råd til bedrifter, designere og forbrukere om hvordan de kan produsere og handle mer miljøriktig (for oversikt over slike verktøy, se f.eks. Klepp et al., 2015; Kviseth, 2011). Et viktig element i disse verktøyene er at de rangerer ulike fibre mot hverandre. Dette kan få store konsekvenser fordi det brukes som grunnlag for beslutninger om hva klær og andre tekstiler produseres av. Mange bedrifter, designere og forbrukere ønsker jo å ha «miljøriktige» klær, som lett forstås som klær i bestemte materialer. Den store vinneren har så langt vært resirkulert polyester. I dette kapitlet diskuterer vi hvorfor de LCA-studiene verktøyene bygger på er lite relevante, og hvorfor de dermed kan få store miljømessige konsekvenser.

Klikk her for å lese hele kapittelet (researchgate.com)

Making Clothing Last: A Design Approach for Reducing the Environmental Impacts

ingridha on 31. august 2015

Kirsi Laitala, Casper Boks & Ingun Grimstad Klepp

Abstract

This article discusses the extent it is possible to delay clothing disposal through improved design, thus reducing negative environmental impacts. This has been done by including user centered design methods into more traditional quantitative consumer research to give new insights for design. Empirical data on reasons for disposal of 620 clothing items from 35 persons in 16 Norwegian households was collected. In total, 70 different disposal reasons were registered, which were combined into seven main categories.

Changes in garments as well as size and fit issues dominated, while functional, situational, taste, and fashion related reasons were less common. The article concludes with design solutions on four levels related to the important disposal reasons including product design (material and shape), service design, and systems design, but also shows that consumer behaviour is crucial. In addition, the combination of results obtained with various qualitative and quantitative methods proved to be suitable for giving rich data that can be used to drive design research forward.

Click here to read the full article (oda.oslomet.no)

Clothing disposal habits and consequences for life cycle assessment (LCA)

ingridha on 24. august 2015

Kirsi Laitala & Ingun Grimstad Klepp

Abstract

This chapter discusses the effects of end-of-life scenarios to the life cycle assessment (LCA) calculations. Consumers’ decisions in the disposal phase of clothing are crucial from an environmental point of view, as they affect the lifespan of clothing, as well as the potential for reuse and recycling. In doing this, examples of Norwegian consumers’ clothing use and disposal practices are used.

We will present statistics for the current situation in Norway as well as qualitative material on clothing disposal practices and discuss disposal methods and frequencies. Instead of assuming that all clothes are disposed of equally regardless of type of garment, person and place, the LCA analyses should be nuanced in relation to knowledge of disposal practices. Analysis also shows also that if improvements are made in facilitating reuse, clothing lifespans could easily be prolonged.

Click here to read the full article (sciencedirect.com)

Patched, Louse-ridden, Tattered: Clean and Dirty Clothes

ingridha on 1. mai 2015

Ingun Grimstad Klepp

Abstract

“Patched, louse-ridden, tattered—clean, beautiful, gem.” As children we recited this rhyme in Norwegian: “Lappete, lusete, fillete—ren, pen, edelsten,” as we picked petal after petal from a daisy. All the words can be understood as descriptions of the child’s future clothes. Clean is the turning point in the rhyme. Clean is thus seen as the first step on the way towards the gem, and it conveys here the same meaning as in the saying “whole and clean is the greatest finery.” Both emphasize clean clothes as crucial to the judgment of a person’s appearance. In the world of fashion it has been alleged that “anything goes.” This is probably true if we restrict “anything” to small variations in the look, decor, color, and style of clothes. However, our way of dressing also depends on more absolute norms.

This article explores the norms that deal with the relationship between clean and dirty clothes. Despite the fact that there is abundant research on cleanliness and laundering on the one hand, and clothes and clothes habits on the other, there are few points of intersection between the two fields. The article is an attempt at seeing these two themes in conjunction. It investigates how clothes, by being kept clean, make bodies socially acceptable. The article looks at how the demand for cleanliness varies in relation to age, gender, and class, and compares these demands to what we know about decency.

Click here to read the full article (tandfonline.com)

Consumers’ clothing disposal behaviour – a synthesis of research results

ingridha on 15. september 2014

Kirsi Laitala

Abstract

Consumer decisions on clothing disposal are important from an environmental point of view, as they have an effect on the lifespan of clothing, as well as the potential for reuse and recycling. This article summarizes what is known about consumers’ clothing disposal behaviour based on empirical literature published during the past 30 years. The goal of this synthesis is to integrate empirical research, find generalizable results, evaluate the used research methods and identify central issues for future research. Most clothing disposal studies concentrate on disposal channels, behavioural motivations, disposal reasons and demographics of consumers that behave in specified ways.

Many consumers prefer to deliver clothing for reuse rather than to dispose of them, but convenience is paramount. Common disposal reasons for apparel were wear and tear, poor fit and fashion or boredom, in addition to lack of storage space. Survey methods are most common, which indicates the need of other research designs that preferably include the clothing items in method triangulation. Studied samples are dominated by young women and students, and research on more heterogeneous samples is needed.

Click here to read the full article (wiley.com)

Valuing Norwegian Wool

ingridha on 24. oktober 2012

Marie Hebrok, Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Tone S. Tobiasson, Kirsi Laitala, Marit Vestvik & Madeline Buck

Summary

Wool has been called the white gold and has warmed and brought joy to the Norwegian population throughout history. It is also a textile fibre with many unused features. The starting point of the project Valuing Norwegian Wool is a desire to help Norwegian agriculture, wool based industry, and design to exploit the potential inherent in Norwegian wool as raw material, and in the Norwegian textile tradition. Norway has a thriving textile industry and several strong companies that produce products made of wool. The marketing of the origin of the raw material these products are produced from is however rather inadequate and sometimes misleading. While fewer and fewer of the products are made of Norwegian wool, consumers – not without reason – take it for granted that Norwegian producers use Norwegian wool.

The project is funded by the Norwegian Research Council and led by SIFO. The project partners include representatives from the entire value chain – from agricultural organizations, industry and commerce, and design and consumption. This report is one of many publications in the project and makes visible the challenges that exist in the value chain, but also the great potential that is there.

Click here to read the full report (oda.oslomet.no)

Potensiale for økt materialgjenvinning av tekstilavfall og andre avfallstyper (papir/papp, metall og glass)

ingridha on 16. oktober 2012

Kirsi Laitala, Ingun Grimstad Klepp, Nick Morley, Torill Meistad, Adrian Chapman, Wenting Chen, Marie Hebrok, Johannes Daae & Marthe H. Austgulen

Sammendrag

Rapporten vurderer muligheter for økt materialgjenvinning av tekstilavfall i Norge. Mengden generert tekstilavfall i Norge er 24 kg på innbygger per år som hovedsakelig blir brent med energiutnyttelse. Det finnes lite materialgjenvinning av tekstiler i dag og kunnskapen om de miljømessige konsekvenser er begrenset. Innsamling av tekstiler for gjenbruk er derimot godt etablert og handelen med brukte klær en stor global næring. Produksjonen av tekstiler er svært forurensende, og dermed økt levetid og gjenbruk bidrar positivt gjennom å erstatte nye tekstiler. Forbrenning med energiutnyttelse reduserer energiforbruket med cirka 2-6%, mens gjenbruk reduserer med cirka 20-60% av forbruket gjennom tekstilers hele livsløp. Også for andre miljøparametere er gevinsten ved gjenbruk stor sammenlignet med energiutnyttelse.

I dag blir det eksportert 4,2 kg brukte tekstiler per innbygger samtidig som ca. 1/4 til 1/3 av det som blir kastet i restavfall kunne vært gjenbrukt. Analysen viser at det er samfunnsøkonomisk lønnsomt å kildesortere tekstiler som en ny avfallsfraksjon og selge dem videre for gjenbruk og materialgjenvinning. Dersom dette gjøres slik at tekstilenes verdi ikke blir forringet av fuktighet eller vond lukt vil utgiftene dekkes av de inntekter salget gir med dagens markedspriser. Dette gjelder selv om vi må regne med lavere kvalitet og dermed lavere andel til gjenbruk som følge av økende innsamlingsgrad. De er også positive miljøeffekter av det foreslåtte tiltak i forhold CO2-utslipp, vannforbruk og kjemikaler. Effekten er først og fremst global. Tiltakene for å øke ombruk og materialgjenvinning er å legge til rette for innsamling av en ny avfallsfraksjon, samtidig som forskning, informasjon og holdningsskapende innen tekstiler og miljø mot forbrukere, store innkjøpere og tekstilbransjen styrkes.

Klikk her for å lese hele rapporten (oda.oslomet.no)

Lukten av svette: luktutvikling i ulike tekstiler

ingridha on 24. oktober 2011

Marit Kjeldsberg, Kjersti Eilertsen, Madeline Buck & Ingun Grimstad Klepp

Sammendrag

Det er utviklet en metode for å samle opp svette og bedømme lukt i tekstilprøver for å undersøke hvordan forskjellige materialer lukter etter bruk, lufting og vask. Følgende tester er også utført: Varevekt metode i henhold til standard NS-EN 12127:1997. Vannopptaksprosent i henhold til modifisert metode basert på standard NF G 07- 166: 1993. 13 ulike tekstiler delt inn i kategoriene antilukt, ull, bomull og syntetisk ble testet. Alle tekstilene ble vasket fem ganger før testing. Videre ble effekten av tøymyker på lukt undersøkt. Prøvene ble evaluert av et forbrukerpanel med 12 SIFO ansatte. Resulatene er basert på vel 3200 observasjoner og beregningene er utført ved hjelp av Exel og SPSS. Testen ble utført i samarbeid med Myren Sportssenter i tidsrommet 12.-26. september 2011.

Klikk her for å lese hele rapporten (oda.oslomet.no)