By Kath Horton, Chair, The Nest Community Board
QUT senior lecturer, School of Design, Kath has taught in the Fashion discipline for over 15 years. Kath, the instigator of the Fashion Communication major, is also a research co-lead in TextileR who works with small to medium enterprises and community groups to solve critical sustainability issues in the global textile and fashion industries.
When anyone asks why I’m passionate about The Nest I say it’s because it takes a resource worth “less than nothing” and transforms it into a valuable commodity for the maker community. I’ll explain what I mean by discussing our Textile Recovery Centre and the circular economy.
What is the circular economy?
All over the world, governments and local councils are talking about transitioning to a circular economy. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation defines it as “a system where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated. In a circular economy, products and materials are kept in circulation through processes like maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture and composting”.
Local governments are trying to apply these principles to tackle our growing waste issue and help us find a more sustainable future. Through The Nest’s Textile Recovery Centre, we are proudly building a circular textile economy in South East Queensland.
How much textile waste does The Nest receive?
Each week, The Nest receives around 5000 litres of textile-based donations plus equipment like sewing machines, knitting machines and overlockers. These donations, while always gratefully received, come to us in an unsorted and random condition. They need to be unpacked, sorted, assessed and repackaged, so that they can be sold through our retail outlet, The Nest Haberdashery.
This is where our talented volunteers come in. Their brilliance in sorting is due to their expertise and knowledge of textiles, strong work ethic and commitment to our cause. The work of our volunteers is priceless – literally creating value to an undervalued resource.
To say that this work of sorting is transformative is an understatement. If our Textile Recovery Centre didn’t exist, it’s likely that most of our donations would end up in landfill, impacting the environment and at a cost (and loss) to the community.
By taking the time to work together to identify the value in these resources, our volunteers are not only providing low-cost crafting resources to the ever-growing crafting communities of South East Queensland, but they are also generating value for our local councils and governments, diverting these lovely textiles from landfill, preventing them from becoming ‘waste’.
A unique methodology based on value
There are many ways textiles can be reclaimed but The Nest has certainly pioneered a unique methodology here in Queensland based on one of its values that ‘people and resources are equally valued’. Not only does The Nest focus on recirculating materials, but harnesses the volunteers’ wealth of knowledge to develop systems and processes from sorting to folding, repackaging and presentation.
Being resourceful and crafty has always involved re-using, unpicking, upcycling and altering, with skills passed down across generations. Our volunteers intuitively have this resourcefulness, but The Nest provides an opportunity for them to take collective action and tackle textile waste.
So yes, I find The Nest an inspiring, exciting and transformational place.
Learn more about The Nest Haberdashery
