Revealing the false promises of synthetic biology (interview with rebecca burgess of fibershed, part 1)
Rebecca Burgess, previously featured in episode 61, is the Executive Director of Fibershed (@fibershed_), Chair of the Board for Carbon Cycle Institute, and the author of Harvesting Color. Her newest book is Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy
In this podcast episode, Rebecca sheds light on how we came to globalize our fashion system; the known and unknown health effects associated with the AZO dyes frequently used on textiles; why she calls synthetic biology a “false solution” to the varied issues they claim to be able to address; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Rebecca and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne.
Musical feature: Trust The Sun by Mountain Twin by Joel Porter (@JoelPorterMusic)
“Synthetic dyes tend to be more permanent, but part of the problem is that impermanence—our addiction to impermanence is what is fueling so much use of plastic fibers, finishing agents, and synthetic dyes.”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast and multimedia journal illuminating our paths towards ecological balance, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all. This preview has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app to stay informed and updated on our latest episodes.
On the health threats of exposures to synthetic dyes:
“Synthetic dyes were developed around 1856 by a chemist in the UK who was looking for a cure for malaria, and he had an explosion in his lab and this kind of purple material landed on the walls. And he was like, “hm… color.” He had been using, I think, coal tar in this experiment, and so this accident in the lab eventually turned into the first synthetic dye called ‘mauve.’
It took 400 pounds of coal tar to create one ounce of dye. It was very fossil carbon heavy and dependent. Textile dyes were that way and to this day, synthetic dyes are reliant on the fossil carbon industry.
Most modern material culture is dependent on the fossil carbon industry: our plastics, our dyes, our fuel, our homes—it's everywhere…
There are ways of [using synthetic dyes] cleanly, but by and large, 60% - 70% of dyes used globally today are AZO dyes.
AZO dyes are problematic in that they are endocrine-disrupting, meaning with the way they metabolize in the body, they can disrupt the communication system between cells in the body. That affects fertility, tissue development, neurology—any cell communication is the foundation for healthy organ systems.”
On our cultural obsession with impermanence:
“Synthetic dyes tend to be more permanent, but part of the problem is that impermanence. The addiction to impermanence is what is fueling so much use of plastic fibers, finishing agents, and synthetic dyes.
When I teach my natural dyes course, I talk about how all good things fade: All good things in the world fade; humans fade and their hair turns gray. We're such a youth-driven society, and we think of that as a bad thing.
But humans go back to the earth, our bodies go back to the earth, and our clothes need to go back to the earth. We need to become microbes’ food at some point.
The faster that can take place, the faster we cycle nutrients into new life, and the faster we cycle the regenerative capacity of this earth.
The more we put impermanence in there (which is I think is our own fear of death—we want everything to last forever, including ourselves), we actually throw off the nutrient cycling on the planet, and we throw off the regenerative capacity of the earth.
Life and death is the nature of this planet. We have to feel more comfortable as humans being in those cycles.”
On maintaining precaution with synthetic biology:
"Just in California alone, we throw away 1.4 million tons of textiles annually. When you pair that with the fact that we're keeping our clothes half as long, you can see how we're driving this waste stream and it's ratcheting up annually due to the advent of fast fashion and the cultural idea that clothes are disposable.
To me, the challenges of our time—climate change, biodiversity protection and enhancement, mitigating and eradicating pollution—are all tied together. They're all symptoms of the same core issue: our relationship with things and our relationship with ourselves.
If you look at the waste streams as a mathematician, you'd say there is no need for new fiber. Then if you go to the virgin, farmed materials in California, [you'd see that] we are underutilizing, throwing away, composting, mulching, and discarding two-thirds of our coarse wool in this state. The utilization is not on par with production.
Every October and November, 250 million pounds of cotton is harvested, and from January through May of every year, 3.1 million pounds of wool is pulsing off the landscape. It's totally under-appreciated.
So for me, to have Silicon Valley-style, biotech venture capital coming into California, but with 1.4 million tons being wasted, not recycled, not reclaimed, and not moved back into new textiles… you should just look at the waste numbers and say: ‘We don't need new fiber; we need to find a succinct way of moving it back to the human skin.’
We don't need these synthetic biology fibers—these are untested technologies within the ecosystem, and humans are perpetually underestimating ecosystem impacts… I'm kind of amazed at the lack of precaution taken.
And our conversations about animal agriculture or agriculture as a whole get so oversimplified. We say, ‘Okay, agriculture is bad; the fossil carbon industry is bad. So we just need everything to be new.’
That kind of oversimplification of life is it's what's driven so many revolutions that have left you with the same core problems that you started with.”
This is Part 1 of a 2-part conversation. Tune in to part 2 in episode 210.
