Repairing is woven through our history.
Understanding our global history through repair enables us to reconnect with it and revive its significance.
Repairing your clothes instead of buying new ones saves valuable resources and lowers emissions. According to WRAP, repairing one cotton T-shirt can save over 7.5kg of CO2, the same amount as driving a car 70km.
In the latest in our 5Isniders series, @aliciaminnaard, fashion designer, repairer and co-founder of @fixingfashion.community, will walk us through repairing’s importance, tips and tricks when starting repairing and teach us how to sashiko patch repair.
Due to fast fashion, these artisanal techniques are dying out. Historically, repair was a common skill, as textiles were highly valuable. Now, clothes are more available than ever, so repairing is as crucial as ever.
Lengthening our clothing’s lifespan also means striving towards an overall improvement of the system, towards a fashion industry that considers the quality of the products we buy, and the quality of the lives of the people who make them.
As @orsoladecastro, co-founder of @fash_rev, said, “We aren’t mending because we can’t afford to buy new clothing, but we can’t afford to throw something away”.
Follow @imagine5_official to not miss the next 2 episodes of the series!
On-screen & script: @aliciaminnaard
Produced: @_prunelle_
Directed: @hughmerous_
The sustainable construction sector has demonstrated measured progress this week, with multiple projects advancing low carbon design principles and reinforcing a global shift toward environmental sustainability in construction. The UK finalist for the Earthshot Prize has attracted international attention with its “upcycled skyscraper” concept. The project exemplifies how sustainable building design can decarbonise cities by reusing existing structures rather than rebuilding, cutting embodied carbon in materials and reducing the overall carbon footprint of construction. It shows that net zero whole life carbon targets are achievable when adaptive reuse is supported by rigorous whole life carbon assessment. This approach represents a pivot away from demolition-led development and towards truly circular construction strategies.
G F Tomlinson’s completion of the Barnsley College University Centre modernisation delivers a tangible demonstration of sustainable building practices rooted in lifecycle assessment. The retrofit has safeguarded the building’s Art Deco heritage while integrating a low carbon building methodology that promotes energy-efficient buildings and greener infrastructure. By retaining the original structural frame, the project has cut the embodied carbon of construction, proving that low carbon construction materials and renewable building materials have comparable performance to conventional options when guided by life cycle thinking in construction. The work also highlights the significance of BREEAM and emerging standards such as BREEAM v7 in defining measurable sustainability benchmarks.
In Cambridgeshire, work is commencing on the £500 million Medworth Energy from Waste facility, a major investment designed to support a functioning circular economy in construction and energy supply. Through combined heat and power systems, the development will assist future net zero carbon buildings by providing renewable energy outputs while applying whole life carbon methodologies to reduce lifecycle emissions. Although energy-from-waste has detractors, its integration with eco-design for buildings reinforces its potential as part of wider carbon neutral construction strategies that prioritize resource efficiency in construction and whole life cost management.
At the global level, the announcement of the Earthshot Prize finalists underscores that sustainable design and green construction principles now define the benchmark for engineering relevance. With emphasis on embodied carbon reduction and net zero carbon pursuits, these initiatives promote sustainable urban development grounded in measurable environmental product declarations (EPDs) and transparent assessment of the environmental impact of construction. The shift signifies a maturing understanding that building lifecycle performance is fundamental to both commercial resilience and global climate commitments.
Whole Life Carbon is a platform for the entire construction industry—both in the UK and internationally. We track the latest publications, debates, and events related to whole life guidance and sustainability. If you have any enquiries or opinions to share, please do
get in touch.