Creating a Bioregional Textile Community with Rust Belt Fibershed

In this episode, we speak with Jess Boeke. Jess and her twin sister Sarah Pottle, are the co-founders of Rust Belt Fibershed and are growing a bioregional textile community within a 250-mile radius of Cleveland. Imagine sourcing your clothing from a regional fibershed where local fiber farmers, workers, and artisans produce natural clothing that originates from the soil and can return to the soil. This is the vision of Rust Belt Fibershed. Jess and Sarah are helping connect us with our clothing the way farmers' markets connect us with our food. It starts with systems thinking and education, then the community magic follows. Listen and hear about alpacas, hemp, flax, natural dyes, microplastics, and what's needed to bring natural textile production into our fibershed and the many ways to engage with this regenerative community.   

Guest
Jess Boeke, Co-Founder and  Executive Director, Rust Belt Fibershed

Resources
Rust Belt Fibershed website
Community Forum - get plugged into the Rust Belt Fibershed community
Drift Lab Dye Studio - natural and botanical dyeing project
Regenerative Ed - regenerative thinking for our educational system
Reading: Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy