Fashion from the Red Book: a collection of eco-clothing was presented at the Karelian Scientific Center

The meeting and display of a small eco-collection from Petrozavodsk designers took place at the Karelian Scientific Center. The event was timed to coincide with the Day of Environmental Knowledge and the Red Book of Karelia.

The Red Book is in fashion

Animal artist Alena Savicheva once drew a Ladoga seal, listed in the Red Book of Karelia. Her colleague Maarit Rozhina made stamps with rare mushrooms. And then a seal, a weasel and a hare, along with stamps, ended up on a cloak reflecting the artists’ environmental idea.

“We wanted to do something important, to draw people’s attention to a serious problem. We decided not to stop only at the raincoat and created another set: the T-shirt was dyed using the tie-dye technique, I tried to create an imitation of the scales of an ordinary snake,” said Alena.

For this set, Maarit created an apron dress – an imitation of a pearl oyster.

“The pearl oyster is listed in the Red Book. On the outside it is inconspicuous, but on the inside the mollusk is very tender and light. This is exactly how I saw her and made the dress. I used a cape in this image, it’s a household item that is used to cover pillows in villages, it’s not even a curtain. Here’s another example of how you can use different old things.”

To create the collection, the craftsmen used recycled materials: clothes from thrift stores and second-hand stores.

“Modern fashion is changing quickly and is simply becoming unsafe for our planet. Now, according to researchers, the fashion industry produces 90 million tons of waste per year. That’s a lot. And designers began to think about how to move towards sustainable fashion, towards sustainable brands. And I’m glad that our Karelian designers also support this global trend and create eco-friendly clothing,” shared stylist Yulia Telpina.

Maarit and Alena are upcycling – This is the creative transformation of old, unnecessary objects, materials, waste into art, household products, accessories and clothing.

“Upcycling is a process when a thing is not completely recycled, but revised, and with the help of some techniques or technologies it is brought back to life, but in a new form. And this is a story not only about textiles, but also about other materials: glass, bags and even swans made from tires in yards – this is also upcycling.

In 2019, the word “upcycling” became the word of the year in the fashion world. In 2020, the pandemic became an impetus for the development of this area. In 2023, the term broke into the world of high fashion. Some fashion houses could not order high-quality fabrics during the period of restrictions, so they altered their old collections. Some craftsmen, like Alena and I, collaborate with factories. They buy scraps there, sew pillows, blankets, toys, bags and much more from them,” shared Maarit.

Designers conduct master classes; they are ready to teach people how to save old clothes. Also at meetings they tell where you can donate unnecessary things, for example, to the Teploobmen charity shops.

“We don’t have textile factories in Petrozavodsk, but we, for example, cooperate with furniture production. You can also sew a lot of interesting things from furniture fabrics. In our workshop, Maarit and I paint, cut, sew, and create. I mainly work using the tie-dye technique, I paint old things so that they become new,” said Alena Savicheva.

Let us remind you that Respublika spoke in detail about the work of these designers in the project “Making it in Karelia”.

How to get into the Red Book

Oleg Kuznetsov, editor-in-chief of the Red Book of the Republic of Karelia, chief researcher at the laboratory of marsh ecosystems at the Institute of Biology (IB) of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, announced that the latest edition of the Red Book of Karelia was published in 2020. Today it includes 774 protected objects.

“A separate list includes 143 species that require special attention. They are not yet protected, but their condition is already causing concern: perhaps these representatives of flora and fauna will be included in the next Red Book with a new status. The lists also include those species that were discovered recently and locally,” said Oleg Kuznetsov.

The scientist noted that compared to the 2007 Red Book, the 2020 edition has undergone significant changes. A number of species were removed from the lists, while more than a hundred new ones were added.

Leading researcher at the Zoology Laboratory at the Institute of Biology of the Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Artemyev, told the audience at the lecture interesting facts from the life of birds, which until recently did not need protection. Compared to the 2007 edition of the Red Book, which included 51 bird species, the 2020 edition includes 76 species.

“More than 75% of species nesting in Karelia are migratory. They are often affected by the deteriorating situation in their wintering areas. As a result, their numbers are declining on our territory. As an example, Dubrovnik is endangered in Karelia. In the recent past, this bird was one of the most numerous in Eurasia, but since the 1980s, the number of Dubrovnik has decreased by 90%. The last time this species was recorded in our republic was in 2008. The sharp decline in numbers is associated with the massive catching of the dubrovnik in its wintering grounds. The fact is that the Dubrovnik winters in China, and there this bird is considered a delicacy. Since 1997, China has introduced a ban on its catching, however, poachers continue to hunt it. So in 2011, the police confiscated two million captured songbirds, including 20 thousand Dubrovniks. In addition, I will note a number of factors influencing the number of this bird. Pesticides are used more and more often in agriculture, Dubrovnik eats in rice fields in winter, there is less rice and more harmful substances,” said the ornithologist.

For now, the black gull has a happier fate. This, according to the scientist, is the only gull that winters in Africa. Now there are about 20 thousand individuals around the world, seven thousand of them live in Russia. Ornithologists are confident that it is flights and wintering in Africa that significantly reduce the number of these birds, including due to the use of chemicals in agriculture.

“Some of the black-billed gulls live on the White Sea in Karelia. And they feel fine, the White Sea is still relatively clean. But the Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted European seas. And this greatly affected the number of seagulls in Finland,” noted Alexander Artemyev.

The lecture also touched on the topic of migratory geese, which make a stop at Olonets fields every year.

Every spring, migratory birds make a stop here for rest and food in order to gain strength and go to the very north of our country to hatch their chicks. Why exactly in Olonets the geese make a stop and why they might stop doing so, read on Respublika.

You can get acquainted with the electronic version of the Red Book of Karelia by following the link.