Seneca partners with Diabetes Canada, the City of Markham and the Township of King to provide textile donation bins on campus. The bins allow the Seneca community to donate unwanted clothing, bedding, towels, drapes, shoes and more to help divert textile waste from landfills.
Through a series of textile diversion events, Seneca’s School of Fashion is working to reduce the amount of unwanted clothing that ends up in landfill. Activities have included an exhibition by students, launch of a clothing donation bin, a presentation on fashion and sustainability by Kate Black (author of Magnifeco and founder of EcoSessions®), a vintage fashion sale in The Boutique, a styling event using second-hand garments, a clothing swap and a film screening of The True Cost, a documentary about the impact of fashion on people and the planet.
In addition, a student research team from the Fashion Business program is working with Textile Waste Diversion Inc. to investigate the influence of a social marketing campaigns on attitudes and behaviours with respect to textile waste diversion. Funded by Seneca's Applied Research Fund and led by Prof. Sabine Weber, the Textile Diversion Initiative is changing consumer behaviour to fashion consumption and disposal through education. In this project, the research team is modelling consumer attitudes and behaviours regarding fashion interest, shopping frequency and disposal methods. This will support social and environmental responsibility by increasing awareness of the impacts of, and alternatives to, textile disposal in landfills.
