Hi, it was a long time ago, but i did a search for you and found an article. Unfortunately, it’s in dutch, but maybe you can translate it. I’m sorry, this topic is not my expertise, but i did find it quite interesting. And a bit disheartening, because this info is crucial for people who plant forests, but not for the casual gardener.

As far as looking for resources, that’s a very kind offer, but my garden is filled to the brim! It’s not big, but very wild and i tried to plant some native shrubs that i felt were most beneficial for both insects and birds. (And since literally all birds skip the paved gardens in our neighborhood and flock to our garden to sing, to feed, to mate, to rest and to breed, i would say that we are doing something right :-)

Apologies, i completely forgot to check my inbox! I’m not in the US and we don’t have a lot of nurseries around and nothing that focuses on native, organic plants, or caring about genetics. I was aware of the genetical issues, since i follow some nature blogs that focus on the things happening in our country, for instance the problems with importing tree seeds that seem native, but genetically they are not really, which - or so i heard - is also a problem for our insects.

Thank you for your reply and have a great weekend

A couple of years ago i started to read about the destructive nature of invasive plant-and animal species and decided to exclusively focus on planting native plants only, both in our little pond and in our garden. Unfortunately, garden centers sell a lot of invasive species, i don’t think there is any regulation (just yet) and most people who work there probably don’t even know anything about this

Why didn’t i think of this, thank you! Both channels are great.

Yes, definitely. It’s not only more people, but marketing tactics have grown terrifyingly fast and vicious. It’s hard to fight when you know there are tons of people who are getting paid for thinking the entire day of how to boost sales.

Last week i heard someone tell me that they made 25% profit, but the CEO started firing people because they had aimed for some ridiculous number; 75% or so.

I definitely think that the emphasis should be on the industry and making laws. However, the industry should get signals from us that there is a market for change, i think. I don’t think we are completely powerless; we might feel alone in doing little things, but there are many people who also feel alone and powerless, but together they do make an impact.

That’s why i never have been hesitant to send mails or ask for certain things. For instance, i asked a franchise local supermarket to sell certain vegan products and they listened.

And i know there are vegan facebook groups (i don’t use it, but some friends and family do) which group together to mail stores, or push for change in whatever way they can. Also, i donate to certain organizations who fight for change, for instance they successfully lobbied in europe to allow vegan burgers to be called that, despite strong push back from the meat industry to stop them calling vegan food ‘burgers’, ‘milk’, etc I also am a member of a political party that advocates strongly for all the changes that are dear to my heart and thankfully, they are steadily gaining support in my country.

I’m not in the US and i don’t think we have that here, unfortunately.

I am learning to sew and should i embark on starting to sew some pants, they will have pockets, big enough to carry my phone without risking it falling out.

Oh, and i haven’t mentioned it but i’m also interested in repairing my clothing as much as possible. Particularly visible mending has my interest. There was a lively subreddit, but i don’t think we have such a community yet, though there is a sewing/repair community

Some thoughts.

I understand that clothes that are ethical and of quality cost a lot more, but up to a point. Certain brands raise prices because they can hang a ‘green’ label on it. For instance, as a vegan i bought plastic shoes (not happy with that, obviously) and they were pretty cheap. Then, companies discovered they could call those shoes ‘vegan’ and the price went up, up, up, for those same cheapo shoes.

One of the reasons i learned to sew is that i hope to have slightly more control over the fabrics i choose.

I have a cotton sweater in my closet that is about 30 years old. It still feels very thick and it looks fine. The thing goes in the dryer and everything. Nowadays, cotton is so flimsy, it’s ridiculous. I’ve had clothes that i put in the washer before wearing them for the first time and they came out shredded.

But even cotton - or so i read - is not that environmentally friendly, because it uses a ridiculous amount of water, not to mention that some dyes are probably also terrible. Even wool sometimes undergoes harsh treatments that are not environmentally friendly at all.

I feel like the amount of effort we have to make to choose our clothing is ridiculous and tiring. Yet, with our actions we need to give a signal that we want changes (as a side note, just like i buy pants in the men’s department, because pockets). Actions through what we wear, but also political choices, because so many parties encourage greed in the name of ‘the economy’.