S.2 Social Service Training

The OLE workshop —- Beyond What We Wear, was an eye-opening experience which heightened our awareness of environmental protection and taught us valuable upcycling skills. During the lesson, the tutor introduced the process of making clothes to us. It dawned on me that clothing production contributes significantly to pollution and resource depletion with around 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted during the transportation of clothes alone each year. And that is not all. In fact, water consumption in clothing manufacturing is approximately 19.61 billion tons per year. That is a lot of resources. It is clear that the higher the demand for fast fashion, the worse pollution becomes. To address this problem, we should cut down on our clothing consumption or upcycle old garments instead of buying new ones. This brings us to another lesson learned. How to do so? We were also taught how to transform old or ill-fitting clothing into recycled bags. Not many of us think of this but it is a great and simple way to upcycle. The activity was not only captivating but it also offered us a practical way to upcycle garments. We need to all be mindful of our consumption to reduce the burden on the planet. Let us all take the next steps together!