BOLD & BRAZEN: an Eco-Fashion podcast hosted by Mary Ann Stewart

What does that mean? For me, it means keeping Mother Nature "front of mind" in every way possible. In this regard, though, the fast fashion industry is working against us to make us feel like we're missing out on the latest athleisure, holiday, and everyday wear. Stay strong! Buy less. Buy better. Learn to repair what you already have. Making the simple mends on our clothing will lead to ensuring that we repair other things: the handle that broke off our favorite coffee mug; relationships; our communities; and our democracy. Check out your local "Buy Nothing" group at www.buynothingproject.org or on facebook https://www.facebook.com/BuyNothingProject/ Their motto is "Buy Nothing. Give Freely. Share creatively." They offer members a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of micro-local gift economies in which the true wealth "is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors". Post anything you'd like to give away, lend, or share in the Buy Nothing community group. Ask for anything you'd like to receive for free or borrow. Keep it legal. Keep it civil. You can join one group only, the group where you live, so you can literally "give where you live." This is what builds community. In these groups there is no buying or selling, no trades or bartering, no soliciting for cash. They're an adult-only, hyper-local gift economy, not a charity or community bulletin board.

Thank you for joining me! One year ago, in December 2019, I wondered if I could make a successful creative business, focused on my creative ideas designed to satisfy my passion for made-by-hand and raise awareness about the impact our clothing choices have on the environment. I am pleased to say that I just came off of three days of intimacy on the internet where I made a connection and three sales to people I have never met! I was challenged by my mentor, Cathy Heller, to make an offer for Small Business Saturday through Cyber Monday and three beautiful souls, two of whom I have only met through Instagram and Facebook -- and one I haven't met at all! I'm delighted! and thrilled to have reached a goal built on an open heart and an inquisitive mind. The LIVE Online Workshop I mentioned can be found here: https://www.freshcercle.com/ [https://www.freshcercle.com/]Just scroll past the picture of me and my About and you will see a featured image that links to the silk scarf offer. Register before midnight, Saturday, December 5 (East Coast Time) so that I can mail you the prepared scarf and PDF instructions (you will need to supply your own fresh or dried flowers). Featured image is the Great Arlington Meadow, as seen from the Minuteman Bikeway in Lexington.

It's Thanksgiving Week and there is so much to be grateful for! This year, we'll be having dessert together with loved ones over Zoom. This is the first year I'll be participating in the busiest shopping season of the year as a small business owner...but all of the frenzy surrounding it doesn't feel good...I'm trying to be gentle with myself. I know I'll be out in the local conservation areas for extended walks this Friday -- aka, Green Friday! We have got to change our collective mindset around consumerism and materialism. How do we do that? People are talking about our multiple crises: The Pandemic.  Racial Injustices. Climate Crisis. Epic Unemployment. Affordable Housing. Food Insecurity. Wealth Insecurity. A Democracy in Tatters. And, they're saying that we need to wake up and new systems need to come of this. How do we do that? I mentioned my featured guest post on Mary Ruth Shields' blog on United Sewing and Design. You can read it here (DM me on IG to let me know your thoughts): https://unitedsewinganddesign.com/2020/11/10/combating-the-exploitation-of-people-and-our-environment-by-the-apparel-industry/ [https://unitedsewinganddesign.com/2020/11/10/combating-the-exploitation-of-people-and-our-environment-by-the-apparel-industry/]

My mentor, Cathy Heller, asked me to talk a little bit about why I started my business. So, I started that thought here and moved into discussing a  little more from Fibershed, the book by Rebecca Burgess. This time I ponder some of the questions asked in the chapter entitled, "Soil-to-Soil Clothing and the Carbon Cycle": Are we wearing clothing from the fossil carbon pool or are we wearing clothing grown in the soil? Does our clothing return to the pool from which it came? Can we compost our clothes? If not, then we need to be asking ourselves, "Why not"? Why are we not as demanding about the clothing that we put on our body as we are about the food we put in it?

When last we met, our national election was just underway. We now have a new President-elect in Joe Biden and a new Vice President-elect in Kamala Harris. This bodes well for our country as we look forward to working with the administration in advocating for the laws, regulations, and policies we need to protect our environment and reverse climate change, repair racial injustices, and address the pandemic and economic inequality. Our democracy is in tatters and we need to mend our relationship with it, as well as learn to mend our clothes. This episode considers chapter one of Rebecca Burgess' book "The Cost of Our Clothes". Like the Slow Food Movement that preceded it, the Fibershed Movement began small; there are now more than fifty fibersheds across North America, the UK, Europe, and Australia. From my own perspective: 1. Buy Less (overconsumption is unsustainable) 2. Buy Better Quality 3. Make it Last (fewer machine washings and dryings) 4. Learn to Mend (sew on the button, repair the tear) 5. Make (learn to sew, knit, refashion) 6. Organize (question the laws, regulations, policies; demand greater transparency) Several links mentioned in this episode: * Joe Biden's "Plan for Climate Change and Environmental Justice": https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/ [https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/] (See also the administration's new transition website: https://buildbackbetter.com/ [https://buildbackbetter.com/]) * Ellen MacArthur Foundation: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ [https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/] * Elizabeth Cline's recent article on Atmos, "The Twilight of the Ethical Consumer": https://atmos.earth/ethical-consumerism/ [https://atmos.earth/ethical-consumerism/] * Fair Wages for garment workers, globally (sign the petition): https://payupfashion.com/ [https://payupfashion.com] * Greenpeace fact sheet, "Timeout for Fast Fashion", 2016: https://wayback.archive-it.org/9650/20200401053856/http://p3-raw.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/briefings/toxics/2016/Fact-Sheet-Timeout-for-fast-fashion.pdf [https://wayback.archive-it.org/9650/20200401053856/http://p3-raw.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/briefings/toxics/2016/Fact-Sheet-Timeout-for-fast-fashion.pdf]