Looking past standardized impact assessments to understanding a bioregion
What is the soil-to-soil concept of circularity, and how can this sequester our carbon, enrich our soil, and promote healthier ecosystems? Why is it that we have to look past the numbers and findings from our environmental impact assessments in order to really understand sustainability?
Rebecca Burgess, Founder and Executive Director of Fibershed and author of Harvesting Color, shares her wisdom with us on this episode. Let's dive in.
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer Podcast with Kaméa Chayne, a show exploring environmental and intersectional sustainability from ideas to life. Subscribe to Green Dreamer on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app and let’s learn what it takes to thrive in every sense of the word!
Highlights
[2:40] What first inspired Rebecca's passion for the environment.
[5:57] What led Rebecca to start Fibershed.
[9:07] Kaméa: "Nature is really complex, but as consumers, we like easy answers. So how can we navigate this complexity to make healthier choices?"
[11:03] Rebecca: "If we don't practice by doing, we'll never really understand complexity in the deeper ways that we need to."
[11:35] Rebecca explains what the term "soil-to-soil" means.
[13:15] Rebecca: "We take heart that this problem of climate change is solvable, and it's actually solvable through regenerative textile systems. Soil-to-soil is the framework for how we see this playing out."
[15:44] Kaméa: "What do we know about what happens when toxic chemicals from fabrics go back into the soil?"
[16:24] Rebecca explains what a 'bio-solid' is.
[17:55] Rebecca discusses the rise of environmental disease and death in humans, including the problem of boys being exposed to too much estrogen in utero because of plastics.
[19:42] Kaméa: "What's been your personal biggest challenge building Fibershed?"
[21:16] Kaméa: "How do you think we can move forward to shift society's mindset on wanting or expecting cheap clothes?"
[24:50] Rebecca: "The long game is what I have to remind myself of, and not be so attached even to my lifetime. I just have to work as hard as I can to support other people carrying this forward."
[25:11] Kaméa: "How do you stay hopeful and patient—even with this sense of urgency—so that you can keep doing everything you do?"
[26:22] Kaméa: "What do you think we need most to accelerate toward a more sustainable and thriving fashion industry?"
Keep in Touch
Fibershed
Website: www.fibershed.com
Twitter: @fibershed
Facebook: @fibershed
Instagram: @fibershed_
Rebecca's book: Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes
Tips
To follow: Jacobin Magazine and @wingandaprayerfarm
Words of inspiration: "I stay open with encouraging myself, and just check in with how I'm feeling regularly."
Health tip: "Yoga and hiking." Green tip: "Wear less plastic and wash plastic less."
Element of hope: "The immune response... Regardless of generation, it seems like it's an 'all hands on deck' moment."
Words of Wisdom: "Support yourself each day by getting one thing checked off your list that's going to make you feel better about tomorrow."
