Activity
:
Presentation
Reviewing the environmental impact of fibres
Created by
Redress
,
2026
Objective
This activity aims to explore and discuss the different environmental impacts of fibres along the lifecycle of a product. It is part of the ‘REGENERATE’ circular strategy, with a focus on designing for low impact materials.
What to prepare
Time
- 40 mins to complete the activity sheet
- 20 min to debrief with the group
Activity brief
Prior to the activity kick-off, we suggest that your students review the topic ‘FIBRES’.
This activity aims to show students that no fibre is perfect and all fibres have impacts on our environment and the communities that grow and extract them. We invite students to reflect on the process of fibre production and their use in fashion, and finally discuss the performances and benefits associated with respective fibres for specific uses in products. In line with the ‘REGENERATE’ circular strategy, the focus is on designing for low impact materials.
For this activity, the students can work individually or in small groups. You can divide students into several groups and assign each group with a different fibre type of your choice: cotton, linen, wool, silk, viscose/lyocell, polyester, elastane…
- Provide each group or student with pens and a copy of the activity sheet.
- Each team will have 40 minutes to outline on the activity sheet the extraction and production process of their assigned fibre, and then the associated environmental impacts. Guide students to think about environmental impacts such as air, land, and water, and to explore other possible impacts at each stage of the garment life cycle. If available, allow students time to research online.
- Have each group give a short presentation of their findings, including a reflection as for which types of garments this fibre is best used, given the lens of environmental impacts. If time allows, invite the students to debate.
Outcome
The activity will result in:
- activity sheets filled in with information about several fibre types
- a short presentation of the completed activity sheet