Click here to download: ClothingCareCalculator.pdfClothing Care Calculator, Katie Dombek-Keith and Suzanne Loker
The Clothing Care Calculator by Katie Dombek-Keith and Suzanne Loker from Cornell University in the USA is an interactive tool using Microsoft Excel. It was developed by Dombek-Keith based on the Energy Star Calculator (www.energystar.gov) to calculate the energy use of an individual's clothing care behaviour and alternatives that would lower the energy expended. Its intent is to raise the awareness of designers, consumers and businesses to the major impact of everyday clothing care on the total energy used in a clothing garment's lifecycle. It can be used in the classroom as a tool to introduce lifecycle analysis and the clothing care stage, or as the basis for a design problem reflecting the importance of considering the clothing care stage of a garment's lifecycle in the design process.
To request a copy of the Clothing Care Calculator in Excel, please email info(_at_)fashioninganethicalindustry.org (replace (_at_) with @).
This teaching activity has been taken from Parker, L. and Dickson, M.A. (2009) Sustainable Fashion: A Handbook for Educators, Bristol: Labour Behind the Label. Download the whole publication here.
| . Level | Pre-16, FE, UG, PG |
| 2. Pre-requisite knowledge required by educators | A. No background knowledge required |
| 3. Pre-requisite knowledge required by students | A. No background knowledge required |
| 4. Number of students | Any number |
| 5. Length of time required | 10 to 30 minutes |
| 6. Type of activity | Individual work, Group work, Interactive activities, Ideas for projects, assignments and briefs |
| 7. Discipline | Design |
| 8. Topics covered | Care and repair, Environment |
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