> Could a 3D-robotic loom be the answer to making fast fashion faster and more sustainable? Unspun's patented loom (so proprietary that we had to blur it for the video) can create clothing that fits you seamlessly every time, with just a scan of your phone, and far less waste than other clothing production methods.

>Unspun is pioneering a different method of apparel production out of Oakland, California. By utilizing three-dimensional weaving, the start-up is building garments from the ground up, perfectly customized for the wearer's dimensions.

One other fact that stood out to me is that the weave uses more yarn (about 3x more, if my memory is right) than the average clothes today. That difference makes clothes more durable and last longer.

I doubt this will make the clothes more affordable, but the tech is interesting.

Does anyone know about the environmental impact of these? I sometimes hear about boat propellers hurting wildlife, so what about these?

I’m almost an 11h drive from the nearest coast, so this is not an area of knowledge I am well versed in haha.

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100% wool dryer balls are growing in popularity to the point where I have even seen them at my local dollar store, and for good reason. They can save you money in laundry costs.

If you are someone who uses dryer sheets, these wool balls are a great alternative that removes static from your clothes and can decrease drying time by around 30-50%. So, you save money by not having to buy dryer sheets, as well as on electricity. All you do is toss them into the dryer with your clothes!

> "Per Toner, “Dryer balls excel in reducing drying time due to their ability to create space between clothes. This separation facilitates better air circulation, leading to faster drying and potential energy savings.” | bobvila

I have had mine for many many years now, and they are still in great shape. When or if they do ever break down to the point of being unable to use, the wool is biodegradable.

Just make sure that what you buy is 100% wool. If you are crafty (and have access to wool) you can also make your own fairly easily.

https://youtu.be/de644Zwtnbg

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> Keeping a lid on your carbon footprint doesn’t stop with your last breath. Your choice of funeral can have a significant environmental impact. In a recent report by the US-based National Funeral Directors Association, 60.5% of those surveyed expressed their interest in greener options including resomation (water cremation) human composting and natural burials.

https://www.positive.news/society/eco-concerns-prompt-green-funeral-options/

I debated for a while on if I should post this or not (rather morbid, I know) but I think it's an important thing to think about.

For those of you who are doing hydroponics, what do you think of this system? Is it a good system for a beginner on a budget? Or is there a better system?

Did you know that simply digging a slight ditch can completely change the health of a landscape?

In modern landscaping, any sort of hole or ditch is considered a “dangerous tripping hazard,” “unsightly,” or “a waste of space,” so everything is smoothed out. If you go to most cities and farms, the only non-flat places are designed to carry water away from cities, rather than hold onto it.

This thought process can not only increase overland flooding and wash away topsoil, but it also gives water no place to sit and be absorbed into the soil. Without any water capture gradually trickling into the soil and creating an underground reservoir, the landscape becomes less drought resistant and more susceptible to wildfires.

The permaculture techniques to correct this have many names and methods, including:

• Demi-lunes / Half - moons / Semi-circular bunds
• Eyebrow terraces / banquettes
• Negarim
• Contour bunds
• Micro basins
• Planting pits / Zai pits / Chololo pits
• Swales

They might be different shapes and use slightly different methods, but they all do all work the same on a basic level. The idea is to dig or build a shape that will slowdown and/or catch some of the movement of water. This can make the soil more absorbent (dry and hardened soil does not absorb water as easily) which promotes healthy microbiome of the soil.

Even if the water dries out visibly during the dry season, underground, they could be making a huge difference.

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It is not new science, but instead something many cultures around the world have a long history with, but many modern farming practices(mostly to make it farming machine friendly) and development flatten everything out. If people changed this point of view, it could change our landscapes.

In cities, they look like a slight ditch in front of a house, or a creek in a greenspace.

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For other landscapes, it could be just slight indents in un-farmable areas, or ditches dug around farm perimeters.

They do not have to be very deep, and often do not need any fancy equipment to dig(most just take a shovel), but they can do amazing things.

In the process of reversing landscape desertification, it is proving drastically helpful. As the underground water reserves build, so does the vegetation.

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(Image Source: Just Dig It. An example of demi-lunes / half-moons)

More Info:

• https://youtu.be/RPJ9T4yAEGs
• https://youtu.be/CG4-u1q1x3Y

Vergenoegd Winery(South Africa) is handling pests using a unique solution; ducks. These ducks enable the winery to be pesticide-free.

Video: https://youtu.be/H6Ehoxu9QY8

The reason for this is that ducks love to eat all sorts of garden pests: including slugs, snails, mosquitoes, ants, and more.

> "You may also be wondering: Why ducks and not chickens? While it’s true that chickens can help to keep bugs at a low in your garden, they also have a habit of being a little less delicate around garden plants than ducks do. Chickens love fresh greenery and will be more than happy to eat your homegrown lettuce, whereas ducks will focus less on your hard work and more on the bugs in your yard." | The Spruce

Similarly to the winery, ducks are also often employed to help with rice paddies. The ducks not only help with pests and fertilization, but their paddling helps both aerate the water and kick up mud(the increased oxygen and decreased light can cut down on algae or weed growth).

As an added benefit, the eggs and/or meat can be eaten. I know that will upset many of you but the added financial benefit of that is further incentivizing farmers to switch from herbicides and pesticides, to ducks.

> "Another study done by Practical Action2 concluded that the duck-rice farming technology led to several socio-economic and environmental benefits. The ducks were introduced into the rice fields 10-20 days after rice was planted until the flowering stages. The study also found out that this form of farming was better in rice production than others as it led to decreased production costs, high yields achievement, had benefits for the environment and led to increased income. Further, it’s stated that 20% higher yields can be achieved with the use of this system, 50% increase in income can be achieved as well as enhanced food security through the consumption of duck meat." | Permaculture Research Institute

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ISdo-b7Lk

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>Herbicides have a long history of negative consequences. Glyphosate and paraquat, among other pollutants, are extremely harmful to human health and the environment. These pollutants impair soil quality and destroy beneficial organisms such as pollinators. Furthermore, the widespread use of herbicides has resulted in weed resistance, making chemical management less effective.

>Kenny Lee, co-founder and CEO of Aigen Robotics, is personally committed to reducing pesticide use. Lee, a glyphosate-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor, has collected $19 million for his startup to produce solar-powered weeding robots. “We’re on a personal mission,” Lee says, emphasizing their dedication to sustainable agriculture.

> It’s long been thought that soil is the only effective terrestrial methane sink, as certain microorganisms use methane as a food source, but similar creatures live under a tree’s layer of bark, meaning that not only do our woody cousins withdraw CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in their roots, but also remove methane as well, about as effectively or perhaps more so than soil.

RIGHT TO REPAIR

A big fight is happening world-wide to push governments to ensure people can repair the products they own.

> “The right to repair refers to proposed government legislation to forbid manufacturers from imposing barriers that deny consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer products.” | Wikipedia

This is happening because of:

• Planned Obsolescence: companies are purposely building their products to break faster, so you have to pay to replace them sooner.
• Unfixable Products: some products will have their components soldered, glued, or riveted, to stop people from being able to repair.
• Brand-Specific Parts: These parts may cost more than buying a new product. As well as that, some companies refuse to let independent repair technicians purchase their parts to try and force costumers to only use the product company for repairs.
• Restrictive Programing. For these, the programs refuse to let you fix your own products (a large example of this happens to farm equipment, where farmers have to hack their own equipment if they want to repair on their own).

More Info:

• https://youtu.be/NWQ8y3TksrQ
• https://youtu.be/wzWU7D0S9_8?feature=shared

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REPAIR CAFES

Repair cafes are typically community-run events where volunteers gather to fix the broken items of strangers for free. My town started doing it a long time ago, and it was so popular that it now happens several times a year.

People bring in stand mixers, vacuums, computers, items that need sewing repairs, and more. Often, the person is very willing to explain the repairs as they do them.

In other places, repair cafes have become more permanent. For example, in Austria, the government started paying those who repair.

Repair cafes not only save people money, but they also can greatly reduce the amount of waste produced by saving those repaired items from the landfill.

More Info on Repair Cafes:

• https://youtu.be/6ZrnVobXWFQ

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For food forests, you do what you can to use edible plant life to mimic the ecosystems of a wild forest.

>“A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature.” | Project Food Forest

If done right, this system will…

• Promote a healthy soil microbiome
• Increase carbon-capture (no-till)
• Prevent erosion
• Retain water

And more.

Personally, I suggest using as many perennials to your area as you can so you don't have to replant everything every year.

Here are some perennial examples that are for my specific area:

(⚠ means you may want to container garden them to prevent spread)

• 🥬Lovage (celery alternative)
• 🥗 Bloody Dock (chard alternative)
• 🥗 Good King Henry (spinach alternative)
• 🥔 Jerusalem Artichoke (root vegetable)
• 🥗 Sea Kale
• 🧅 Chives ⚠
• 🥝Hardi-Kiwi
• 🍓Wild strawberries
• Raspberries ⚠
• Wild blueberries
• Red or Black Currants
• Haskap/Honeyberries
• 🍇Valiant or Bluebell Grapes
• Rhubarb
• Saskatoons
• Pembina Plums
• 🍒Evans (sour) cherries
• Manchurian Apricots
• 🍎 Hardi-Mac Apples

More Info on Food Forests:

• https://youtu.be/Q_m_0UPOzuI
• https://youtu.be/6GJFL0MD9fc
• https://youtu.be/mdi_9o92XcU

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Years ago, I took an online course on mountains, and one fact that stuck with me from it was about how people in the USA accidentally polluted the water in New York City by cutting down trees.

It was the 1800s, and the trees in the Catskill Mountains were cut down to accommodate growing populations, and as a result, the water quality for New Yorkers deteriorated rapidly. Yes, the agriculture pollution and sewage did play a part, but the trees were decided to be such a big problem, that they decided something had to be done.

So, they purchased land, and planted 18000 trees to restore the natural ecosystem.

How does this water-cleaning work? With watersheds.

> “Watershed: an area of high ground from which water flows down to a river” | Cambridge Dictionary

Imagine it is raining in a forest. Droplets hit the ground, and —thanks to the vegetation which slows runoff — it is absorbed into the soil like a sponge. As the water moves through the soil, microbes are actively removing harmful pollutants, silt is filtered, and plants removing fertilizers.

Some of the water will end up in our lakes and streams, but will be much cleaner than when it started.

> "The ability of forests to aid in the filtration of water doesn’t only provide benefits to our health and the health of an ecosystem, but also to our pocketbooks. Forest cover has been directly linked to drinking water treatment costs, so the more forest in a source water watershed, the lower the cost to treat that water. Forests provide these benefits by filtering sediments and other pollutants from the water in the soil before it reaches a water source, such as a stream, lake or river." | American Forests

Since this intake and outtake of water is gradual, removal of these forests can even to lead to a higher chance of both droughts and floods.

More Info:

• https://youtu.be/QOrVotzBNto
• https://youtu.be/OfqOOqz0RhU

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Have you heard of the beautiful living root bridges in Meghalaya, India? Their construction is a lesson in patience as the roots are gradually encouraged to grow in the supportive shape. They need regular care, but grow stronger with age.

>“Once a bamboo structure has been stretched across the river, the roots of the tree, usually the rubber tree (Ficus elastica), are teased and manipulated to become entwined with the bamboo until it becomes a strong mesh. > The roots are allowed to grow gradually and strengthen over time. In the initial stages, only about 15-20 people can cross the bridge in a day. Much later, it can be as many as 50 or more, although it can take up to two decades for a living roots bridge to be finished.” | The Guardian

Once done, the bridges can have a lifespan of several hundred years; far outliving the original creators of them.

It is unknown when this tradition started, but they were written about in 1844, so it would be far earlier than that.

I just thought people on here might find this tradition as fascinating as I do.

More Info:

• https://youtu.be/1H0qTm7wNjk

> A good place to start learning more about Miyawaki Method https://www.sugiproject.com/blog/the-miyawaki-method-for-creating-forests https://earthwatch.org.uk/program/tiny-forest/

If you want an easy way to help your local pollinators, then consider building a water station! Many plants and crops rely on pollinators, so the more you attract and help, the healthier your garden will be (for example: "“Bee pollination improves crop quality, shelf life and commercial value.”)

For a basic one, you will need:

• Tray or dish
• Rocks
• Water

The tray or dish is to hold everything, and the rocks are to give the pollinators something safe to land on. Without the rocks, you will likely end up with drowned bees. Due to evaporation, you may have to fill the dish once or more a day.

HOWEVER, although that is the most common method, there is another one that I prefer that was taught to me by local beekeepers. They use a refilling dog bowl instead of a dish, so it doesn't have to be filled as often.

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While this was advice from beekeepers, the watering stations are not limited to honeybees; you may see all sorts of native pollinators visiting.

If you can't buy a refilling bowl, here is a tutorial on how to DIY one.

No matter what you choose, though, the pollinators will appreciate it! I do suggest putting the water in shade to limit possible algae growth.

> Around 50 billion disposable drink cups are used every year in the US, but in the city of Petaluma, we will see if Americans have the discipline to reduce this footprint.

>The city numbers around 60,000 people, and will participate in the Reuseable Cup Project. The aim is to furnish 30 local restaurants, from Starbucks to Taco Bell, with identical, durable, plastic drink cups, which customers and diners can use and then either leave on the table, or deposit in a network of dropoff bins around the city.

>"The rock powder, usually basalt, is often scavenged from local mines or quarries, where it exists as a waste by-product. ERW companies collect the rock powder, sometimes milling it further to reduce the grain size. Then they truck it to farms, where it is used in place of ag lime.

> Studies show that volcanic rock dust can raise the pH of overworked soils, improving productivity." Modern Farmer

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Have you heard of The Great Dust Bowl? It was a series of dust storms in the USA that were so intense, they killed crops, livestock, and people during the the great depression.

The situation was amplified by a drought, but the dust was also human caused.

>“Following years of overcultivation and generally poor land management in the 1920s, the region—which receives an average rainfall of less than 20 inches (500 mm) in a typical year—suffered a severe drought in the early 1930s that lasted several years. The region’s exposed topsoil, robbed of the anchoring water-retaining roots of its native grasses, was carried off by heavy spring winds. ” Britannica

This dust storm was so thick that it blocked the sun.

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>“Dear Mr. Roosevelt, Darkness came when it hit us. Picture taken from water tower one hundred feet high. Yours Truly, Chas. P. Williams." An unknown author writes to Roosevelt

Under the hands of desperate farmers, grasslands turned to landscapes so lifeless and dangerous, that many people abandoned their dreams and left.

One of the practices that amplified this disaster (that is a current farming practice to this day) is rototilling. During this, you flip the soil over, which can make planting easier. This comes with many problems, including:

• Destroying the soil microbiome. Healthy soil means healthy crops.
• More weeds. As you flip your soil you are allowing dormant seeds a chance to thrive
• Soil Compaction: As the soil gets more compact, it becomes harder for roots to work through it.
• Washing or blowing away top soil. Top soil is where the heathiest soil is, and it can be washed away if left uncovered
• Drying the soil. By leaving the soil exposed you are letting the sun bake out any moisture

Fixes:

• Crop rotation. This is a pre-medieval technique where you rotate what crops you grow in what soil. This can add nutrients to the soil, avoid nutrient depletion, reduce diseases, and reduce pests.
• Cover Crops. Never leave your soil bare. Cover crops can save your soil.
• Water Catchments. These slow down the movement of water, encouraging the soil absorbing it. Examples: bunds or swales.
• Alternative farming. Such as aquaponics or hydroponics.
• Food forests. Instead of rows of monoculture, food forest combine several different types of plants in a way that mimics a forest.
• Reducing food waste. To take pressure off food production. In Canada alone, $31 billion dollars worth of food waste is thrown out a year.
• Mulch. Putting mulch down can protect your soil while also keeping down weeds.
• Planting trees and bushes. Even if it is just on the outside perimeter of your crops, trees and bushes can help hold soil in place, reduce wind, and improve the general health of the area.

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More Info:

• https://youtu.be/xFqecEtdGZ0

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Did you know that you can grow your own bath sponges?

>"Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the pumpkin, squash and gourd family.” Wikipedia

Luffa plants are from southeast Asia, and can be grown in places with a long warm summer. The fruit can take a long time to grow and toughen it’s inner fibers (about 150-200 days), but after that time, they are ready to become sponges.

Explaining it simply, you peel the skin, wash the insides, hang them to dry, then you are done.

> “Getting all the seeds out can be a challenge, but the drier the sponges are, the easier the seeds will fall out. Save the best ones for next year. You can also cut open the sponges in any shape you want to remove seeds or make a loofah fiber mat.” luffa.info

When done, you can use the sponges for bathing, washing dishes, and even as industrial filters.

More Info:

• https://youtu.be/4ioU11rQyd8
• https://youtu.be/oq4ZgAGd-JM

Edit: people were getting confused about which quote was for what, so I added dividers and titles to separate it all better. Sorry for the confusion.

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Kinetic Tiles

Many years ago now, I was watching an NHK (a Japanese broadcaster) program about how kinetic energy was going to be utilized in the busiest stations in Japan. The theory was simple; as people walk over a mat, their steps would produce electricity to help power the station. In any other station it might not work, but in a station that typically has 1.57 million passengers per day, that is a lot of people power.

Since then, there have been many companies attempting to utilize kinetic energy, with the biggest company likely being "Pavegen." They have their system in certain city sidewalks, airports, and even under sports turfs.

>"The downward force drives an energy-storing flywheel inside the tile, which spins to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy through electromagnetic induction. It’s like a generator — only instead of spinning a turbine with wind, water, or coal, it’s spinning a flywheel with footsteps." Grist

More Info On Kinetic Pavement:

• https://youtu.be/VD15-2Uriyc
• https://youtu.be/vnAwsEUOUxw

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Kinetic Shoes

If tiles are not unique enough for you, that same tech can be used in shoes.

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>"The researchers say that this method can produce a lot of watts relative to the surface area of the generator, with the proof-of-concept device generating around 10 watts per square meter in early experiments. They claim that theoretical estimates indicate up to 10 kW might be possible." NewsAtlas

More Info On Kinetic Shoes:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNjc9tUs96Y&t=9s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svK6Gv7oM6U

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More work needs to be done to make kinetic energy more efficient, but there is just something fascinating to me about power generation that can fit seamlessly into our world without us noticing.