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(Eco)uture fashion show turns trash into treasures

The Cal State Long Beach Environmental Science and Policy Club is working with fashion design and merchandising students to host their first eco-fashion show on Tuesday.

The (ECO)uture Environmental fashion show is organized to spread awareness about being green. Plastic bags, cardboard and many other everyday recyclable objects will be manipulated and reused as clothing. 

The club wanted an event that would capture a wide audience, according to Brianna Pagan, president of the Environmental Science and Policy Club.

“Our motivation was the idea of expanding Earth Week 2012, by reaching out to more than just the environmental science and policy majors on campus,” Pagan said. 

Clothing companies, such as H&M, have released eco-conscious clothing lines that inspired the fashion show, organizers said. 

“There are so many ways to turn something old into something new,” Pagan said. “We wanted to share this with other students.”

The fashion show will be divided into two scenes: up-cycling and recyclables. 

Up-cycling involves making a new outfit out of old materials. It encourages students to think about ways they can revamp their wardrobe on a low budget while also being eco-friendly, organizers said. 

For the recyclables scene, designers will create outfits out of plastic bags, cardboard, bottle caps and various other recyclable materials. The club hopes this will make people think twice before they consider something trash.

“There are so many [do-it-yourself] tutorials out there to teach people to reduce their waste by turning trash into a treasure,” Pagan said. “The next time you go to throw something out, think of how it can be reused. There are earrings made from cork stoppers and necklaces made from paper clips and tape, and they all look wearable.” 

For the eco-fashion show, the club is doing more “behind the scenes” work: organizing, planning and working out all the details of the performance while fashion students will have a platform to show off their designing skills, according to Pagan.

“Everyone’s career path can benefit from becoming a bit more sustainable, so we decided to team up with students in [Fashion Merchandising and Design] and show that they can make their desired field eco-friendly,” Pagan said. 

“The fashion students have lots of experience,” she said. “They see designing and clothes in a much more elaborate way, and it really shows through their creations.”

In the future, the club hopes to work with a more diverse group of students to show how every major can “go green.”

“Companies everywhere are starting to invest in ways to lessen their impact,” Pagan said. “CSULB is taking measures to reduce its carbon footprint through the American Colleges and University Presidents Climate Commitment. If students have the resources and knowledge to become greener, it might be advantageous in their career paths.”

The (ECO)uture Environmental fashion show will be held from 12:30 to 1 p.m. on April 24 at the Speaker’s Platform across from the University Bookstore.

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