Can reselling and repairing our clothes really help tackle fashion’s environmental footprint? How can we make nature more accessible to communities that don’t have access to green space? To mark Earth Day this year, Selfridges is hosting pioneering experts and inspiring voices in the field of sustainability to explore these compelling questions and help us pave the way to a brighter future.
The virtual events are free to join and take place as part of Selfridges’ theme for 2021, Good Nature: a celebration of pleasure in nature, conceived with optimism for a future of restoration and growth, offering visitors physical and digital experiences responding to the natural world. Selfridges imaginative approach to retail innovation is underpinned by its transformational five-year sustainability plan, Project Earth, which aims to change the way we shop.
COMMON GROUND: HOW TO DEMOCRATISE NATURE
Thursday 22 April, 6PM BST
Panelists:
- Jeana Malhi – Youth Board Member, Friends of the Earth
- Myra Rose Craig – British-Bangladeshi ornithologist, bird writer, naturalist, and campaigner for equal rights, Myra is the youngest person in the UK to receive an honorary Doctor of Science award. Myra is known as ‘Bird Girl UK’
- Ellen Miles – A creative strategist and social innovator with a focus on the relationship between social and climate justice. Ellen is the founder of the campaign ‘Nature is a Human Right’.
Spending a mere two hours a week outside is scientifically proven to lower blood pressure, enhance the immune system and reduce anxiety. Yet, for many communities, nature and the countryside are inaccessible with many city-dwellers struggling to find greenery in their local areas. There have been accounts of racist hate crimes in ‘community’ green spaces while plus-size people have long felt excluded from outdoor activities such as hiking. In this panel discussion, we hear from the organisations drawing attention to these inequalities and the trailblazing activists campaigning to make nature open to all.
AS GOOD AS NEW: CAN RESALE AND REPAIR CREATE A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR FASHION?
Friday 23 April, 6PM BST
Hosted by Elizabeth L Cline, Author
Panellists:
- Lauren Bravo- London-based journalist and author of How to Break Up with Fast Fashion, 2020.
- Shaunie Brett – Consultant in sustainable clothing consumption, Shaunie is currently offering free coaching to young women of colour who have recently founded a fashion business.
How can re-wearing, repairing and buying pre-loved fashion help the environment? Can this make a real difference in an industry that churns out vast quantities of cheap, mass-produced clothes every day? How can we make the pieces in our wardrobes last a lifetime? Join author and fast fashion specialist Elizabeth L Cline and expert voices in environmental fashion as they discuss the significance of reselling, reworking and repairing fashion items in today’s climate. This is a great way to discover the positive ways in which this simple practice can help the cause while also learning some helpful tips to get you started.
CLIMATE ACTIVISM: HOW CAN WE CREATE A NEW FUTURE?
Saturday 24 April, 6PM BST
Hosted by Jenny Kleeman, Author and Journalist
Panellists:
- Tyrone Scott – Young Greens Campaigns Officer Activist
- Anita Okunde – Activist and UK Student Climate Network
With the anti-climate change movement growing by the day, how can we untangle this complex issue to inspire effective thought leadership for the future? And how can we communicate that this is the most pressing matter in the history of human civilisation without it being preachy and dull? We bring together a panel of experts who have each found creative and innovative ways to bring the climate change conversation to the forefront in what promises to be an inspiring and informative talk.
