Weaving A Community Together

Have you ever heard of an Earth Loom? It's a modern day version of an ancient vertical loom, a variation of which is still used by the Navajo people to weave their famous rugs today.

An Earth Loom is set up in a public space and people are invited to weave or attach biodegradable items to its warp strings, thereby creating a collective work of art and fostering community building. When completed, the Earth Loom is often taken to a forest, orchard or other natural area and allowed to "return to nature."

Isn't that a cool idea?

My friend Sandra in British Columbia recently erected an Earth Loom, constructed out of scavenged wood found on the nearby coastline and lashed together by her husband Gord. Here's the Earth Loom on Day One . . .

. . . and two weeks later!

I see feathers, driftwood, twigs, shells, cloth, ribbons and other fabric in this woven celebration. The community really came together to create a striking art installation!

In the most recent closeup, there's an animal skull with a bead "earring" added by a neighbour and a strip of cotton attached by an Australian visitor. 

I first met Sandra many years ago in law school in Winnipeg. Following a distinguished legal career here in Edmonton, Sandra has become a serious weaver, creating beautiful textiles and art. She is currently completing a Master Weaving Program and hopes she may be able to use this fun and meaningful project in her thesis.

Thanks for letting me blog about your Earth Loom, Sandra!

[Photos used with permission]

It's Earth Day Once Again

An Environmentally Sustainable Wardrobe

Sheesh, guess where I just bought new jeans -- d'oh!

Speaking of clothes, a recent report from a Berlin sustainability think-tank, the Hot or Cool Institute, calculates how many items of clothing the average person in a four-season G20 country such as ours really needs to fall within what the institute calls a "fair consumption space." This is defined as "a space where consumption levels stay below environmentally unsustainable levels yet above sufficiency levels that allow individuals to fulfil their basic needs." (See the news item found here).

The environmentally sustainable wardrobe number is 85 items in total. Clothing categories include coats and shoes, but not underwear and accessories.

Out of idle curiosity, I undertook a scientific investigation into my own closets and chests of drawers. This is the resulting data:

Coats: 5

Tops: 40

Pants, Shorts: 16

Sleepwear: 8

Athletic Wear: 3

Shoes: 10 pairs

Grand Total: 82 items

Phew! Just in under the wire!

And the kicker is that I don't even wear 30 of those items at all or only on a rare basis. For example, 5 pairs of shoes fall into this category. Most of these unused or rarely used items are kept "just in case I need them again some day," such as a few work-related dress pants, tops and shoes or my swimwear items. None of those items have been worn in the last 5 years or longer.

If those rarely worn items are removed from the calculation, my "actually worn" wardrobe total falls to 52 items. 

So either I'm some kind of

Environmental Superstar

or I'm walking around like a

Cheapskate

Fashion-Challenged

Ragamuffin

Hmm, I don't think I'll ask people to cast their votes on that particular issue.

Earth Day -- When Will We Care?

Honour Your Mother!

Another Year, Another Earth Day

And what about Covid-19?

Earth Day Reminders