'I'm looking for old material to use for a children's clothing line that I'm launching. I want to funk up children's clothing without messing up the planet, so I need old T-shirts with patterns or band images and slogans, or something cool, memorabilia wise. The main idea behind my new venture is that I don't want to introduce any new fabric into it. I'm fighting waste, so I want to use exclusively vintage and recycled fabric.

"I grew up in a hippy community in Australia called Byron Bay, which is where I think most of my beliefs stem from. I'm adamant that we shouldn't take more than what we need from the earth. We should also give back as much as we can and there's no need for the crazy consumerism that we have today. We're all human and we all like nice things but I believe that we can all do a little bit to make a big difference to the environment.

"For example, if we can buy a little bit of organic, or if we buy a little bit of fair trade, or get the soles on our shoes fixed, then that all goes towards helping to clear up after ourselves and not create waste. Anything we can do to keep stuff out of landfills and keep the world ticking over is better than doing nothing at all. It soon becomes a habit. Recycling was dismissed as bananas in this country 10 years ago and now if you didn't do it, you would be frowned upon. I guarantee that if your green bin didn't go out, your neighbour would notice. Ireland is really leaping ahead these days with all things green and recycling. The plastic-bag levy was brilliant. That's one of the best things that this country has ever done.

"Litter isn't a huge problem in Australia. We would never have been allowed to litter the streets or beaches or anything like that. Back home, if you were to throw rubbish on the streets people would point out that you dropped something. They wouldn't assume you were littering. People would assume you made a mistake because no one would do that. There are a lot more green options in Australia as well and obviously there's a lot more solar power possible with all the sunshine.

"I suppose I've become so much more adamant about taking care of what we have because I'm a mum now. I've got two kids and they have really brought my care for the environment to the fore and are why I refuse to use new material for the clothing line. They are also the inspiration behind my designs, in that I know about comfort for kids. They need clothes that breathe and it's very important that they can wriggle and giggle.

"The fashion and retail industry is ridiculous in the way that they don't recycle. The circle isn't complete. Plus a lot of people don't repair anymore. They don't fix a rip in their clothes or a dropped hem. We've become a disposable generation and we really don't need to be. I've set up a website, www.fairlytraded.ie, and it's going well. But I'm looking for some design help from an NCAD student, so hopefully I'll find the right person.

"I've been in Ireland for 11 years. I lived with Irish guys in Sydney and they said I had to see Dublin. So I went to London first but thought it was too big and too smelly. I got on the boat and made my way to Dun Laoghaire and, two kids later, the rest, as they say, is history."