As part of the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR), Komunala Izola organised an awareness-raising event, which intertwined the issue of food waste, which was the central theme of this year's EWWR, and the ever-present issue of textile waste.
Food and clothing are two of the most basic human needs, but the food and textile industries are among the most polluting industries in the world, although the impact of each is different. Both industries are large consumers of natural resources, have a negative impact on the environment through emissions, are linked to consumer culture, and, as a consequence, generate large amounts of waste.
Reducing waste is crucial
Through a series of innovative activities implemented through its Centre of Useful Objects (CUP), Komunala Izola aims to raise awareness of the importance of waste reduction and promote sustainable lifestyles among its users and the general public.
The event, which took place as part of the Interreg ITA-SLO project WASTE DESIGN 2.0, was the third in a series of EWWR events centred around a sustainable intergenerational fashion show. It is a fashion show of styling and integrated fashion projects created with clothes brought to the Centre by citizens and other users and intended to be exchanged or reused.
At this year's fashion show, which took place at the Manzioli Palace in Izola, the occasional models walked the catwalk twice. First, they presented men's shirts which CUP finds are no longer interesting and therefore difficult to pass into the hands of new customers. By innovatively redesigning the way they are worn, they contributed to a great look, showing that they can "come alive" in a different guise. The challenge for the second walk was to showcase current fashion trends, recreating the presentations on the world's catwalks with second-hand clothes in unusual combinations of very vivid colours, pink motifs, brown shades with animal patterns, and a variety of grey patterns.
"It's important to create alternatives! If we want to be the change we want to see in the world, we need to change our consumption habits and turn on our creativity. This time we have seen that second-hand clothes can be used to create a real fashion statement," said the event's mastermind, Metka Magdalena ล ori. The role of fashion models was taken over by CUP users representing different generations, from primary school children to pensioners.
Spreading awareness with a booklet of recipes and tips
The second part of the event focused on the issue of food waste, as each person in Slovenia throws away an average of 78 kilograms of food per year. Commenting on this and other startling facts about the amount of waste generated by each individual, Robi Flego, Director of Komunala Izola, emphasised: "By making informed food purchases and exercising moderation, we are taking an important step towards reducing the amount of food wasted. It is time to change our mindset and focus on reducing consumption and reusing all goods, thus moving towards eliminating the causes of waste."
On this occasion, Komunala Izola presented its own booklet of recipes and tips to reduce food waste. Visitors to the event were also treated to a special "zero waste" banquet, where they could taste some of the dishes prepared according to the recipes in the booklet and based on alternative uses of ingredients that would otherwise go unused.
The recipe booklet is available in Slovenian and Italian.
More sustainability for a better tomorrow
Sustainable events like this allow children and their parents to exchange toys, books and other useful items, promoting a culture of re-use and reducing the need to buy new ones. The European Week for Waste Reduction also included a children's winter clothing exchange.
Through sustainability initiatives such as these, Komunala Izola aims to empower the community to adopt more sustainable solutions that contribute to a healthy environment and a better tomorrow. And with every event and every activity, to encourage individuals to become active co-creators of the environment they live in.
