For three weeks, less was more

The campaign was carried out as a collaboration between students of the Master's program in Sports, Culture & Event Management at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein Tirol, the artist Richard Schwarz, and the cultural associations openspace.innsbruck and Novo Kulturno Naselje as part of the EU project Magic Carpets. It focused on various aspects of sustainability and used the interactive functions of the Instagram platform to encourage participation. Initially low-threshold and primarily informative, the campaign increased towards its climax: the call to the audience to send in pictures of their own good old T-shirts and share the stories behind them.

A CALL FOR MORE SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Life in a consumer society is characterized by the consumption of resources, which we ourselves or others cause for us. The campaign drew attention to this everyday fact and showed ways to make one's own life more sustainable.

It all started with a seasonally appropriate topic: Christmas. Among other things, proposals for more sustainable gifts and their packaging were provided. The next focus of the campaign was the aspect of nutrition. For example, seven substitutes were presented that help make everyday cooking more sustainable. This was followed by information on technology, such as the sobering figure that 160,000 laptops are thrown away every day in the European Union – 70 percent of which could be reused. The topic that led to the finale of the campaign was fashion. Aspects of production, distribution and recycling were highlighted. There were useful suggestions on how to rediscover and reuse old clothes, and information on the fashion industry's impact on the environment.

“TELL US YOUR STORY!”

The highlight of the campaign was December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a public holiday when shops are allowed to be open. The campaign used this date to invite the audience not to buy new things, but to look in their own closets instead. They were looking for “good old T-shirts” with personal stories that tell of their emotional value. Each of these garments becomes an advertisement for appreciating what we already have instead of buying new things. The photos of the T-shirts were posted together with the respective story in the story of the openspace.innsbruck account. The age of the T-shirt was also used to calculate how much water was saved by not replacing it with a new one. 25 entries were collected so far.

The stories told about the submissions are particularly impressive. From funny and exciting to heartwarming anecdotes, everything is represented. These stories show the value of reusing old things: the memories we associate with these pieces are unique and very special.

If you would like to follow the campaign in retrospect, you are welcome to visit the openspace.innsbruck Instagram page. All posts and the story highlight with the hashtag #NewCheapNature can be found here.