Introducing CS Students' Sustainability Initiatives: Aalto Repair and Rewear
Who are you?
Hi! We are Kaz (Regina) and Thekla, both in the second year of Creative Sustainability. Kaz is in the BIZ Track with a background in entrepreneurship and shoemaking and Thekla is in the ARTS Track and has a background in Fashion Design and Dressmaking.
What is Aalto Repair and Rewear?
Aalto Repair and Rewear is an initiative supported by the Sustainability Action Booster. Our aim is to develop a community around sustainability in textiles and fashion at Aalto. Earlier this year, we started offering regular workshops on different mending techniques. We are now expanding into workshops and community events with different ideas and concepts relating to textiles, sustainability, and community.
When and why did you start organizing mending workshops?
We started to think about hosting mending workshops almost right at the beginning of our studies. We saw that there was both a need and desire to learn mending skills among our friends and Aalto students more widely. We became eager to make this idea come true and decided to apply for the Sustainability Action Booster. We were really happy when we were accepted for the grant and got to make the idea come to life. Our workshops kicked off at the beginning of March 2024 and were offered every two weeks.
What have you learned from this project? Has it changed your perspective?
Thekla:
I learned a lot about mending because I hadn’t really done it before. There is a big difference between making something new and repairing something. I also really got to step out of my comfort zone when hosting workshops and teaching a group of people I had never met before. Whilst I’m always quite nervous before the workshops, I'm always really proud and happy after, because the community we have created is so warm and beautiful.
Kaz:
While I'm familiar with mending as a personal hobby, I think I have come to appreciate the social side of habit reinforcement. It's one thing to have some practical or technical knowledge regarding how to accomplish a sustainable behavior like mending, but it's a different matter to associate these actions with a positive social environment and a confidence-building experience of my own capability. I think this project has helped me bridge the gap between technical knowledge and community around repair.
What are your plans for Aalto Repair & Rewear's future?
Our second grant proposal to Sustainability Action Booster has now been accepted, which means that we can continue our project. So, in the next months, we want to continue hosting our regular mending workshops but also want to give other students a platform to share their passions and skills with others and further grow the beautiful community that has evolved from this project. We also want to connect more with the mending and sustainable textile community in Helsinki. Our goal is to make mending accessible to everybody, extending the life cycle of textiles and making sustainable behavior more engaging and enjoyable.
Do you have any advice for people thinking of starting a sustainability project or hosting an event?
We are really thankful for the Sustainability Action Booster. The team has believed in our idea from the beginning and has given us a lot of practical support throughout our journey. If you want to initiate a sustainability project, the grant is a very good and accessible resource. Generally, though, our advice is to just go for it! Aalto is a perfect ground to try out sustainability actions and the support you get from students and staff is really overwhelming and rewarding!
You can read more about Repair and Rewear and download Thekla and Kaz's mending guide here!