Anthropocene Mittens

Giordano D'Souza

1003661290

Concept:

During the first assignment I thought critically about what I chose to avoid and why. What hard truths am I avoiding confronting?

In this work I explore the relationship between process and materiality. I had to confront my thoughts about the internet. I used the internet to find stats about textile waste. I used the internet to learn about t shirt yarn and Solar-punk fashion. I used the internet to watch videos of people discussing these issues and calling for action while I made T shirt yarn and crocheted. Any analog way of acquiring this information would be outdated by the time it's printed, the internet is a very practical way to rally large groups of people toward a cause, and the carbon emissions went down when people worked online from home.


However, using the internet contributes to the cobalt and lithium mining related Anthropocene issues, and the internet is a physical server room that relies on water to cool it down. As AI gets coded into everything and the search engines get filled with AI overviews and slop, that AI usage requires even more water. As I worked on this, I wondered if something that could be causing environmental harm could be used to help the planet heal from climate harm. Can we solve a problem with something that's causing the problem?

Process:

I made these thermal crochet mittens out of 100% cotton T shirt yarn from shirts I had that were worn out, stained, or the offcuts from diy crop tops. Some of the Tshirts were free swag shirts. These mittens were crocheted while watching Youtube videos about climate change.

Citations:

  • Anderson, Kara. 2024. Remote vs office : Which one is greener? January 14. https://greenly.earth/en-gb/blog/company-guide/remote-vs-office--which-one-is-greener.

  • Recycling, Council for Textile. n.d. What Happens to Donated Clothes and Textiles. https://www.nysar3.org/page/what-happens-to-donated-clothes-and-textiles-98.html.

  • Yuen, Joanna. 2025. The carbon footprint of the internet: how your data usage emits CO2. April 1. https://shift.com/blog/the-carbon-footprint-of-the-internet/ .

  • Zewe, Adam. 2025. Explained: Generative AI's environmental impact. January 17. https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117.

  • Zheng, March. 2023. Earth.org. 03 31. Accessed 10 29, 2023. https://earth.org/lithium-and-cobalt-mining/#:~:text=Though%20emissions%20deriving%20from%20mining,and%20potential%20for%20groundwater%20contamination.