Fibershed

A new "farm-to-closet" vision for the clothes we wear--by a leader in the movement for local textile economies There is a major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labor, and human health. Even those who value access to safe, local, nutritious food have largely overlooked the production of fiber, dyes, and the chemistry that forms the backbone of modern textile production. While humans are 100 percent reliant on their second skin, it’s common to think little about the biological and human cultural context from which our clothing derives. Almost a decade ago, weaver and natural dyer Rebecca Burgess developed a project focused on wearing clothing made from fiber grown, woven, and sewn within her bioregion of North Central California. As she began to network with ranchers, farmers, and artisans, she discovered that even in her home community there was ample raw material being grown to support a new regional textile economy with deep roots in climate change prevention and soil restoration. A vision for the future came into focus, combining right livelihoods and a textile system based on economic justice and soil carbon enhancing practices. Burgess saw that we could create viable supply chains of clothing that could become the new standard in a world looking to solve the climate crisis. In Fibershed readers will learn how natural plant dyes and fibers such as wool, cotton, hemp, and flax can be grown and processed as part of a scalable, restorative agricultural system. They will also learn about milling and other technical systems needed to make regional textile production possible. Fibershed is a resource for fiber farmers, ranchers, contract grazers, weavers, knitters, slow-fashion entrepreneurs, soil activists, and conscious consumers who want to join or create their own fibershed and topple outdated and toxic systems of exploitation..

The Cost of Our Clothes -- The Fibershed Movement -- Soil-to-Soil Clothing and the Carbon Cycle -- The False Solution of Synthetic Biology -- Implementing the Vision with Plant-Based Fibers -- Implementing the Vision with Animal Fibers and Mills -- Expanding the Fibershed Model -- A Future Based in Truth.

A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A sweeping and captivatingly told history of clothing and the stuff it is made of—an unparalleled deep-dive into how everyday garments have transformed our lives, our societies, and our planet. “We learn that, if we were a bit more curious about our clothes, they would offer us rich, interesting and often surprising insights into human history...a deep and sustained inquiry into the origins of what we wear, and what we have worn for the past 500 years." —The Washington Post In this panoramic social history, Sofi Thanhauser brilliantly tells five stories—Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool—about the clothes we wear and where they come from, illuminating our world in unexpected ways. She takes us from the opulent court of Louis XIV to the labor camps in modern-day Chinese-occupied Xinjiang. We see how textiles were once dyed with lichen, shells, bark, saffron, and beetles, displaying distinctive regional weaves and knits, and how the modern Western garment industry has refashioned our attire into the homogenous and disposable uniforms popularized by fast-fashion brands. Thanhauser makes clear how the clothing industry has become one of the planet’s worst polluters and how it relies on chronically underpaid and exploited laborers. But she also shows us how micro-communities, textile companies, and clothing makers in every corner of the world are rediscovering ancestral and ethical methods for making what we wear. Drawn from years of intensive research and reporting from around the world, and brimming with fascinating stories, Worn reveals to us that our clothing comes not just from the countries listed on the tags or ready-made from our factories. It comes, as well, from deep in our histories.

Handbook of Natural Colorants Second Edition A detailed survey of a variety of natural colorants and their different applications including textiles, polymers, and cosmetics Colorants describe a wide range of materials such as dyes, pigments, inks, paint, or chemicals, which are used in small quantities but play an important role in many products such as textiles, polymers, food, and cosmetics. As the effects of climate change begin to be felt, there has been a shift in focus in the field to renewable resources and sustainability, and an interest in the replacement of oil-based products with greener substitutions. As the push to adopt natural resources grows, there have been significant developments in the research and application of natural colorants as a step in the transition to a bio-based economy. The second edition of Handbook of Natural Colorants provides a detailed introduction to natural colorants in a marriage of theory and practice, from seed of plant to consumer demand. Presenting a wide range of viewpoints, the book briefly discusses the history of coloration technology and the current position of natural colorants before highlighting detailed information on regional plant source availability, colorant production and properties, as well as analytical methods for isolation, identification, and toxicity aspects. It also presents key applications in technical use and consumer products, including the use of natural colorants in textiles, hair dyeing, printing, and packaging. Finally, the text considers environmental and economic aspects of natural colorants. Handbook of Natural Colorants is a useful reference for dyers, textile producers, and researchers in the evolving field of sustainable chemistry, environmental sciences, agricultural sciences, and polymer sciences. Revised and updated content throughout to reflect developments in research and applications over the past decade New content on biotechnology in natural colorant production, natural colorants for mass coloration polymers, natural colorants in printing/packaging, and plant-based pigments Discusses strategies for scale-up, including consideration of energy, waste, and effluents For more information on the Wiley Series in Renewable Resources, visit www.wiley.com/go/rrs

Craft Communities addresses the social groups, old and new, which have developed around craft production and consumption, exploring the social and cultural impact of contemporary practices of making. Addressing a wide range of crafting practice, from yarnbombs to Shetlands shawls, brassware to paper crafting, in a variety of regional and national contexts, the contributors consider how craft practices operate collectively in the home, communities, businesses, workshops, schools, social enterprises, and online. It further identifies how social media has emerged as a key driver of the 'Third Wave' of craft. From Etsy to Instagram, Twitter to Pinterest, online communities of the handmade are changing the way people buy and sell, make and meet.

Two Percent Solutions for the Planet profiles fifty innovative practices that soak up carbon dioxide in soils, reduce energy use, sustainably intensify food production, and increase water quality. The "two percent" refers to: the amount of new carbon in the soil needed to reap a wide variety of ecological and economic benefits; the percentage of the nation's population who are farmers and ranchers; and the low financial cost (in terms of GDP) needed to get this work done. As White explained in Grass, Soil, Hope, a highly efficient carbon cycle captures, stores, releases, and recaptures biochemical energy, mitigating climate change, increasing water storage capacities in soil, and making green plants grow. Best of all, we don't have to invent anything new--a wide variety of innovative ideas and methods that put carbon back into the soil have been field-tested and proven to be practical and profitable. They're mostly low-tech, too, relying on natural resources such as sunlight, green plants, animals, compost, beavers, creeks, and more. In Two Percent Solutions for the Planet, White expands what he calls the "regenerative toolbox," to include holistic grazing, edible forests, biochar, weed-eating livestock, food co-ops, keyline plowing, restoration agriculture, bioenergy, aquaponics, animal power, Farm Hack, bees, bears, wildlife corridors, rainwater harvesting, native seeds, and various other projects from across the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe, and Australia. These short, engaging success stories will help readers connect the dots between diverse, exciting, and pragmatic practices, and inspire them to dig deeper into each individual story and concept, energized by the news that solutions do exist.

Meet the social entrepreneurs who are using business to disrupt the status quo and rebuild their communities Our communities are facing the fallout from the demise of vital industry, bankrupt economies, bad policy or policing, and political mismanagement. People are looking for answers, and the "same old" simply won't do. In the Business of Change is a practical and inspirational guide that showcases how social entrepreneurs from places such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver, who are weary of waste, injustice, and government inaction, are using business savvy to tackle challenges in their communities. Part storytelling, part lessons learned, coverage includes: Profiles of remarkable individuals and companies in such diverse sectors as employment, food, art, education, and social justice An overview of lessons learned and real impacts on the ground Tips for getting started, connecting to the local community, and scaling up. In the Business of Change is for everyone who wants to rebuild their communities and believes that business can be a powerful, positive force for change.

"During the pandemic I started knitting sweaters. This pamphlet describes the making of one sweater, made from wool grown by sheep raised on the Queens County Farm in NYC and spun in the Hudson Valley into yarn. It outlines the process of spinning, dyeing and knitting wool into fabric and discusses how, where and by whom clothing is made. Fibershed is a word taken from the book by Rebecca Burgess, which refers to a local geographic region from which raw materials can be sourced and made into fabric. Her book reflects the long history of textiles, and imagines a new future." --artist's webpage.

Beyond Recycling critically explores unasked questions around recycling and its prominent position in contemporary thinking about sustainability. It examines and challenges assumptions about why we appear to have so wholeheartedly committed to recycling as a cultural project. Recycling has become a commonplace notion and widespread practice. Yet its social, cultural and even environmental value has not been considered carefully enough. This book considers recycling as a contemporary cultural idea related to – but not wholly defined by – our response to material waste. It seeks to reclaim recycling from the environmentalists and waste management specialists, to explore the role it plays in wider contemporary discourse. As we become increasingly satiated, and in many cases sickened, by the excesses of modern consumerism, we are rethinking our relationship with the physical stuff that fills our lives. Dissatisfied with empty materialism, we seek new ways to reuse our material culture. Recycling, turning something considered to be waste into something with renewed value, is our primary collective response to the problems arising from consumption; and it is ripe for critical examination. Beyond Recycling is a fascinating read for conscious consumers and students in the creative arts, design, cultural studies, sustainability and environmental studies.

As issues surrounding sustainability in the fashion industry continue to evolve, the conversation in this collection of essays from leading fashion scholars, thinkers and practitioners has been updated with current concepts and industry practices. This revised edition examines the challenges that designers, product developers, and consumers confront as they create, wear, and recycle clothing and fashion. The introductions to each section have been completely revamped to provide readers with a foundation for the concepts and principles of sustainability covered in detail in the chapter essays. Contributors include experts such as Lucy Dunne writing about how technology is helping create a sustainable fashionable future and Timo Rissanen on his innovative methods for creating fashion with zero fabric waste. New to this edition: - New sidebars focusing on an expansion of Real World Applications -Best Practices sections feature new examples of contemporary industry practices - Discussion questions at the end of each chapter - New chapter on social justice and corporate social responsibility (CSR) emphasizes the conditions of garment workers and human sustainability