TextileArts news and re:views

morsbags are a great, subversive idea to fight the damage plastic bags cause to the environment, by replacing them with cloth bags made by 'pods' of people and given away to shoppers.

let's do something positive to reduce the hideous number of plastic bags being used - 1 million are consumed per minute globally - of which hundreds of thousands end up in the oceans.

the idea is to get together with people in your local community, drink wine and make reusable cloth bags (from old duvet covers, curtains from charity shops etc) and hand them out to the unsuspecting public for free on specified dates outside different supermarkets.

meet new people, do something marvellous for the planet and beat other pods (groups) of baggers with your morsbag tally.

go to www.morsbags.com to be a part of a wonderful thing!

p.s. non-commercial/ non-profitable - just full of beneficial things for everyone, especially whales!

There's a list of existing 'pods' on the morsbags web site - or you could start your own!

BBC Blast - the BBC's creativity initiative for young people - provides 13 - 19 year olds with an outlet for creativity and a chance to develop their creative skills, through the BBC Blast web site BBC2 show and face-to-face workshops.

They are currently running a Scrap Fashion Eco Competition in conjunction with the Ethical Fashion Forum - a consortium of fashion designers who work with fabrics and/or within standards that are sustainable. The competition runs until June 2007 and challenges young people to customise or create a garment from recycled denim.

The winner will receive a mentoring experience with a fashion designer and create a piece to be shown at the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris in October 2007.