Darmstadt, Germany. How the earth becomes clothing and clothing becomes the earth.
Since its foundation in 1954, the Demeter label has stood for ecologically sustainable agriculture and food of particularly high quality. Now, the Biodynamic Federation is expanding its field of work by turning its attention to the fashion world. In cooperation with the Dirt Charity Foundation, which was founded by model and environmental activist Arizona Muse, the Federation is working to create uniform Demeter standards for textiles. The raw materials from which clothing, shoes, and accessories are made grow in the ground. Unfortunately, the cultivation of these raw materials in its current form causes significant degradation and erosion of the soil as well as considerable environmental pollution. The two organizations are currently developing guidelines on how clothing materials such as cotton, wool, leather, silk, linen, cashmere, and dyes can be produced according to biodynamic standards.
The first certification standards are to be voted on by the end of the year. The guidelines will then be integrated into the fashion industry’s markets and supply chains as comprehensively as possible. The long-term goal is to transform fashion production from a problem into a solution, a solution that uses biodynamic practices to help protect the climate, regenerate natural resources, and preserve biodiversity. In a TED Talk in Prague, Czech Republic, Muse describes her vision of a climate-friendly fashion industry: it must be based on biodynamically grown raw materials that are used to produce durable clothing free of toxins. This clothing should also be compostable, meaning that it nourishes the soil at the end of its life cycle and eventually turns back into soil itself. What applies to food also applies to fashion—by making conscious purchasing decisions, we can all support ecologically integrated and life-enhancing practices.
More The Demeter Federation and Dirt Charity
Translation Charles Cross
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