Who Grew Your Shirt? Unearth the Story of your Garments
In my last post, “5 Reasons I’d Rather Talk About Soil Health,” I wrote about the many wonders of soil and how, when we choose food that is grown using regenerative farming practices, soil has the ability to not only sustain, but to improve its own health, which translates into nutrient dense and delicious food, increased carbon sequestration and improved water retention and purification.
Because I love food so much, it’s easy for my focus to get a little narrow and only consider how the tasty morsels I consume impact the health of the soil. I have a tangible relationship with the food I eat. Some of it I grow, some of it my friends grow and the rest comes from the farmers market or co-op. My food choices aren’t perfect, but I try to be mindful about each and every bite I take and feed my family.
But what about non-food items? The fibers in our clothes, sheets, rugs and blankets are also grown in fields and pastures. And the way they are grown impacts our planet, our health and the soil health. A few months ago I bought a Coyuchi Wool duvet insert that was described as “climate beneficial.” I’d never seen these words used to describe a consumer good. My love of wool, slow fashion and this idea of climate beneficial goods led me to Fibershed and the company’s founder Rebecca Burgess.
I was lucky enough to hear Burgess speak at Futurewell, a sustainability and wellness summit I attended in September, about the trail of chemical ruin that follows fast fashion. The toxic chemicals used to grow fibers like industrial cotton include glyphosate, an herbicide that is treated like a friendly savior by the companies that produce Roundup. In her article “Who Grew Our Clothes” Burgess wrote that “over half of the glyphosate used in California is sprayed in the state’s eight most impoverished counties, where 53% of the population is Hispanic or Latino (compared to 38% of the state as a whole).”
Glyphosate is used to kill unwanted plants. Just as it is toxic for plants, it is toxic for animals, including humans. The residues from glyphosate pollute our air, soil and water and the food we eat. These herbicides disrupt human cells, our microbiota, and low levels disrupt our endocrine system. Those who suffer the most from the use of glyphosate are the people who work in the fields it is sprayed on and the men, women and children who live in farming communities.
94% of the cotton grown in the U.S. is genetically engineered and relies on the use of glyphosate herbicides. This cotton becomes clothes we wear, or dress our children in, or sleep on. Each time we wear these glyphosate-treated products, or sleep on them all night, we’re exposed to endocrine disruptors, which impact our overall and reproductive health.
Our choices about the food and clothing we buy is so important because our dollars either vote to perpetuate the use of toxic chemicals that primarily impact the poor (and impact us all) or they vote for non-toxic farming practices that benefit human, plant and animal health and the health of our ecosystem. Choosing well requires asking two primary questions and tracking down the answers all the way back to the farm, the farmers and the soil. We need to ask:
1. How was this product grown?
2. Who made this product?
Burgess wrote,
Fibershed is focused on a cyclic “soil to soil” model for clothing. The model improves soil health and benefits local economies.
Image from: Fibershed
When we ask ‘who made our clothes’ we come into contact with a suite of global chains that connect what we put on our skin each day to human-operated cut & sew facilities, finishers, knitters or weavers, yarn spinning, carding, washing, ginning, or fossil-fuel extraction for resin chips (for synthetic fibers), and in the case of natural fibers—we end up back on the farm. When we begin to take note of the ‘who’ in all of these processes we unearth a story of their contribution and the reality of their task and the risks they endure.
Next time you consider buying something, ask the questions first and unearth the story.
In addition to organic cotton, linen, hemp and wool, here are a few products I love and covet, both for their beauty and quality, and the story they tell about the possible future of our goods and garments.
This is the first and only duvet insert I’ve ever bought. I plan on sleeping under this warm, delightful blanket forever.
This is naturally on my list. It is moisture wicking, temperature regulating, cozy and stuffed with climate beneficial wool.
After spending a day in a room filled with these hides at Futurewell, I was convinced that I needed one someday. They are incredibly soft and raised, grazed and tanned on farms in California using non-toxic dyes.
Stuffed with Fibershed farmer’s climate beneficial wool, these pillows are super soft and I want them all.
One beautiful rugged work jacket to rule them all.
Patagonia is a leader in the garment industry with recycled clothing and responsible sourcing. I especially love Worn Wear and The Stories We Wear.
Other big companies, take note. The North Face partnered with Fibershed farmers to create a truly beautiful line of climate beneficial wool clothing and accessories.
Tools of the Trade: Zero Waste laundry goods. Care for your clothes while reducing your environmental impact and energy use:
We don’t own a dryer. We hang our clothes out to dry year round on a heavy duty clothesline (or inside if it’s raining or snowing). Our clothes smell like fresh air and sunshine. This site has different sizes and shapes of clotheslines for living spaces of any size.
Long lasting and resilient, I like these heavy duty steel pegs or these wood clothespins.
Yes this is my family’s detergent company and yes it’s the detergent I use. It is biocompatible, meaning the byproducts aren’t harmful to living tissue and it breaks down into usable plant food. It gets our clothes sparkly clean too.
I would really like to own this basket for our endless loads of laundry!
Check out my friend Sarah Lillegard’s beautiful essays on Fibershed’s blog and her website, which features stories about her art and work with animal fibers, natural dyes and fabrics. She is truly inspiring.
My book, Growing a Baby, in collaboration with artist Michelle Lassaline, is coming Spring 2021 from Roost Books. Through the lens of growing optimally healthy babies, I explore our relationship to the world and the choices we make and how they impact our babies, our own bodies and the larger ecosystem. The book is truly holistic with actionable steps, relatable stories, top notch science references and beautiful illustrations by Michelle. We are so excited to share this ambitious and meaningful project. Stay tuned!
References
Gasnier, Celine, Dumont, Coralie, Benachour, Nora, Clair, Emilie, Chagnon, Marie-Christine and Seralini, Gilles-Eric. “Glyphosate-Based Herbicides are Toxic and Endocrine Disruptors in Human Cell Lines,” Toxicology 262, no. 3 (2009): 184-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tox.2009.06.006
Rebecca Burgess, “Who Grew Our Clothes,” Resilience, 2016). https://www.resilience.org/stories/2016-04-26/who-grew-our-clothes/