OHS students are putting sustainability firmly at the top of the agenda, having organised and run a virtual Sustainable Fashion Conference with the aim of raising awareness of the impacts of fast fashion and facilitating meaningful discussion around their mitigation. The Conference, which took place yesterday, brought together approximately 700 students from 36 schools throughout the country who tuned in virtually to hear from a variety of experts and change leaders.
Fast fashion is a hot topic. Ever increasingly, we hear in the news about the devastating environmental consequences of the fashion industry and the statistics are concerning; according to the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, the industry consumes 215 trillion litres of water per year and is responsible for an estimated 2-8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Responding to the pressing need for awareness and action, Raffie (Year 13) took up the mantle and came up with the idea of an event to inspire a generation to be the voice of change. With the support of her teachers and peers, she contacted experts around the world to seek their involvement and secured an exceptional line-up of five speakers: Professor Sandy Black, fashion designer and academic; Dr Kim Polgreen, educator who works with teenagers on sustainability; Mike Barry, pioneer of green businesses in the corporate world and Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership; Daniel Mensch, Education Director and Senior Advisor at the Sustainable Fashion Academy, Stockholm; and Jon Guest, Senior Teaching Fellow at Aston Business School. A variety of topics were covered, from ‘sustainable fashion as a gateway to fun, passion and future success’ to ‘the economics of fast fashion’ with each talk followed by a 15-minute question and answer session.
Whilst certainly an important occasion at OHS, this conference was by no means a one-off; it is part of a larger focus on sustainability and environmental protection at the school, championed by a student body that truly cares about the world in which we live. Recent green initiatives range from the ‘Big Green Cycle’, which exhorted students and staff to travel to work on bicycle or foot, to a recycling poster competition initiated by the Green Prefects. Inspired by the Sustainable Fashion Conference, there is no doubt that such initiatives will continue to flourish at the school.
This week’s conference was the first in an exciting roster of student-led conferences taking place this year, with the next one taking place on Monday 20th September on US foreign policy and conferences on law, psychology and classics following over the coming weeks.
It’s certainly an exciting time to be at Oxford High School!
