Fabric Scraps: Waste or Resource

I sew, and nearly all of my projects leave me with scraps of fabric. I started saving them to use for other projects and to avoid creating excessive amounts of waste. Douglas’ definition of waste as matter out of place works to illustrate why fabric scraps are considered waste, but I think some of Moore’s conceptions of waste would do a better job of explaining it. By Douglas’ definition, fabric scraps are waste because they no longer fit in with the established pattern or system. While this definition of waste works in this case, some of Moore’s conceptions of waste do a better job of providing a more nuanced explanation. 

In Moore’s paper, the idea of waste as a resource is written about in regard to its relationship to society, however, in class, we also talked about it in more practical terms. This conception of waste is one of the primary ways I think about fabric scraps, as I encounter them often in my day-to-day life. I see them as both the unusable parts left over after a project, but also as potential materials for other projects.

Another one of Moore’s conceptions of waste that would work to describe fabric scrap is waste as an archive. Fabric scraps can be used to determine what kind of things the fabric was used for. It would likely be less useful for things made farther in the past as textiles don’t hold up very well over time, but they can certainly be used for things made in the recent past. Going through my box of fabric scraps is like becoming an archaeologist of my past projects. 

One of Moore’s conceptions of waste that doesn’t quite hold up when applied to fabric scraps is waste as filth. In this definition, waste is “imbued with and defined by the profound ability to disgust”. I don’t think fabric scraps provoke the kind of disgust implied in this definition, and while the quantity produced in clothing manufacturing could, I think that is different than being disgusted by the actual material.