Fibershed

We're so glad you are part of our community! If you are new to Fibershed, allow us to introduce ourselves. 👋 🌿 Fibershed is a nonprofit organization that develops regional fiber systems that build ecosystem and community health. Our work expands opportunities to implement climate-benefiting agriculture, rebuild regional manufacturing, and connect end-users to the source of our fiber through education. We transform the economic systems behind the production of material culture to mitigate climate change, improve health, and contribute to racial and economic equity. 🌿 Throughout the Fibershed community, innovators are reimagining the ways in which clothing is produced, sold, used, and re-used. Sign up for our "Fibershed Forward" email series to be introduced to community members, makers, activists, growers, and leaders who are affecting change and inspiring action in the world of textiles and clothing. Through this short series, you’ll learn how you can get involved and join us in the movement to protect the health of our biosphere. Sign up here: https://buff.ly/3Pu2ztZ.

We're pleased to bring you the second installment of our newly reimagined Fibershed Newspaper, The Yarn. 🌼 As days lengthen and bloom cycles begin their annual refrain, our hearts are uplifted with the rebirth stemming from the lands that we are responsible to, and yet this vitality is contrasted by our sadness for the unconscionable imperialistic violence we see occurring daily in our world. Fibershed has always centered its work within the complexity, opportunity, grace, and indefatigable commitment to placemaking. This includes organizing ourselves locally to take responsibility for our material culture at a regional scale, (as much as can occur within the carrying capacity of our ecology). We work to quantifiably diminish the pressure, extraction, and destabilization that occurs due to our society's opaque consumption. And in this way, we are ever humbly finding that nexus between beautiful local economies that contribute to global peace. Thank you for working with us and contributing to this movement. Your steadfast support continues to be the driving force behind our mission. Read updates from the Fibershed Community here. 💛 https://lnkd.in/gUbAEE29

Nothing better than good people receiving good press for really good ice cream, oops, I mean work! In this case they are one in the same. But you can also add good milk, eggs, lamb, beef and wool as well as the stellar soil-regenerating ag practices that help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Thanks to Foggy Bottoms Boys, for all that you do to help drive meaningful change. #sustainableag #soilregenerating #climatechange #jerseyscoops #loleta #humboldtcounty #farmedinthefog Thomas Stratton Fibershed

Knowing what's in your clothing and how it was made has defining implications for personal and planetary health. If you are ready to make mindful clothing choices but aren't sure where to start, keep these simple guidelines in mind: 🌱 Wear natural fibers 👚 Avoid plastic clothing 🐑 Choose quality garments over quantity 🧵 Keep clothing in use for as long as you can Want to learn more? Fibershed's Clothing Guide provides easy steps you can take to align your clothing choices to well-being for yourself, for the planet, and for everyone involved in our garment creation processes. Explore the free guide here, and leave a comment below to let us know how you're making mindful clothing choices! https://lnkd.in/gS2_qTNs

Climate Beneficial™ wool is a powerful nature-based solution to climate change and an opportunity to transition the textile industry to fibers that heal the planet instead of degrade it. We are honored to work with Climate Beneficial™ wool growers who are regenerating their landscapes and removing excess carbon from the atmosphere. Designers, companies, and consumers can all be part of the Climate Beneficial™ solution. Learn more and join the movement: https://buff.ly/4cFSfc6 🌱 🐑🌞 #ClimateBeneficialWool #ClimateBeneficialVerification #NatureBasedSolution

📢 Don't miss this new video from our colleagues at the Garment Worker Center! In this clip, garment workers describe how the California law (Garment Worker Protection Act, SB62, 2022) has impacted their income and lives. This law ended base payment by piece rate and closed enforcement loopholes, so garment workers are now really required to be paid a minimum wage in the state. The implementation of the #GarmentWorkerProtectionAct is a success story of grassroots leadership from the garment worker community to protect and improve workers' lives. As industry allies, we must stand with garment workers in support of their important goals. A healthy regional and domestic textile system requires that we support and care for the workers whose skill, time, and energy create the material goods we all use. ➡️ Piece rate pay is still legal in many places across the country, but the FABRIC Act would enact measures to change that. Learn more and support the FABRIC Act here: https://lnkd.in/gQEkvZXs?

Late breaking news--the Fibers Fund makes ImpactAlpha's The Liist! We're thrilled to be included in this monthly curated list of funds, this month with a focus on flexible debt funds. Thanks Jessica Pothering for the great coverage in both the article and Impact Alpha's podcast! (https://lnkd.in/dhc5UyT7). I think Jessica summed it up perfectly: “So Fibers Fund, they’re providing not just debt, they’re also providing catalytic grants and more flexible financing structures to help [fiber growers] support their farming operations and their fiber production. And then they also have a special dedicated facility for Black founders of fiber companies, because they recognize that the path to a more sustainable textile industry should be just and equitable.” Please take a look and listen to learn more about our work! Thank you to our partners and inspiring portfolio companies: Fibershed Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) Impact Charitable fibersfund.com #RegenerativeAgriculture #TextileIndustry #SustainableInvesting #impactinvesting #FibersFund

Fibershed producer Marie Hoff and her husband foster climate-friendly practices that resonate with their personal values and the philosophy of their business, Full Circle Wool. 🐑 "It was a conscious decision from the beginning that Full Circle Wool would create a two-fold return," Marie says. "First, it would support local farmers and their land by buying their wool at a rate that was profitable to them. Then, it would give back a percentage of sales towards implementing new climate beneficial practices. We'd be supporting the land management of today while simultaneously investing in tomorrow." Best-selling products include wool dish sponges and wool pillows, both made using Climate Beneficial™ wool from Ferndale Farms in Humboldt County, California. The wool comes from a well-managed landscape, where grazing patterns invigorate nutrient cycling, long-term carbon storage, and fire safety by reducing buildup of vegetation over summer months, while returning nutrients to the soil in a bioavailable form to support root growth and the microbiome. These 100% compostable wool products prove more durable than their conventional counterparts, with no microplastic pollution when used. 🌱 Marie is just one of more than 180 Northern California Fibershed producers who care for the land and those who rely on it. Want to learn more about Full Circle Wool? Read about Marie's land stewardship at her previous homestead in Mendocino County: https://buff.ly/3wK54hV #FibershedProducer #ClimateBeneficial #LandStewardship

Fibers like cotton and wool have the incredible potential to be grown in a way that nourishes soil health, water resources, biodiversity, and producer livelihoods. Despite this valuable potential, conventional fiber production often extracts natural and human resources to produce low-cost clothing with no transparency into its impact. To turn the tide of the conventional fiber system, we need fiber producers, brands, and consumers on board and in partnership with one another. Fibershed’s Climate Beneficial™ Verification program is working to bring relationships and radical transparency back into fiber supply systems by connecting consumers with the source and impact of their clothing. Learn more about how you can participate in the transition to thriving fiber systems here: https://buff.ly/3W7epxz

Fibershed extends our heartfelt appreciation to our producer community for their swift and impactful response to our recent call for action regarding the European Council's stance on the Green Claims Directive and its Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology. Our community’s commitment to ensuring fair treatment for natural fiber farmers has resonated globally, with support pouring in from natural fiber producers worldwide. Read more about the next steps in the fight for fair fiber assessment here.