Environment

Our wardrobes are changing – for the better. Rapidly rotating collections and environmentally damaging production methods are making way for regenerative clothing, an approach to fashion that goes beyond sustainability to actively restore local ecosystems and communities. By leveraging regenerative agricultural practices, regenerative clothing contributes positively to the environment, offering a sustainable and ethical alternative to fast fashion that not only minimizes harm but actively promotes ecological regeneration. Regenerative agriculture is a farming practice that prioritizes the health of the land, promoting soil fertility, biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Regenerative agriculture employs a variety of techniques to achieve this.

Malawi — In the villages below Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi’s Rumphi district, coffee rules. It’s one of the most common bushes in the region, grown in back and front yards or in open fields where, elsewhere, maize would have been cultivated. Here, coffee shares space with banana and other fruit trees around fishponds and water holes, and scales up steep slopes among natural foliage. “Basically, the project was meant to integrate agroforestry into coffee production to enhance climate resilience and quality of coffee. Agroforestry has many benefits both to farmers as well as the ecosystem,” says Manvester Ackson Khoza, the SFCC’s national coordinator in Malawi and its international councilor for Southern Africa.

Leaves, brush piles, fallen logs, plant stems, and flower heads might not be growing anymore, but they aren’t trash — they are natural homes for wildlife! A layer of leaves is vital insulation from the cold for the many animals that hide within (or in the soil beneath), like quite a few butterflies. Others, like many native bees, nest within stems, flower heads, or pieces of wood. Throwing out all of your leaves and other plant material isn’t just taking away options for shelter; there’s a good chance you’re tossing out many animals that have already settled in!

Animal agriculture manure is a primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface and groundwater. Manure runoff from cropland and pastures or discharging animal feeding operations and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) often reaches surface and groundwater systems through surface runoff or infiltration. Permitting discharging CAFOs to limit nitrogen and phosphorus discharge to surface waters, and implementing best management practices outlined in a manure management plan are critical steps to protecting water quality.

October is National Farm to School Month! Join us and thousands of schools, early care and education sites, farms, communities and organizations across the country as we celebrate food education, school gardens and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients.

The climate problem has been framed in a manner that emphasises temperature changes and carbon emissions, with renewable energy being positioned as the core solution. However, on taking a closer look at where all this energy is going—in food systems, construction, urban design, supply chains, and so on—tremendous inefficiencies can be observed in all these systems. This is accompanied by the realisation that the framing itself is limited.

Research by the Soil Association Exchange shows that farms with a mixture of arable crops and livestock have about a third more carbon stored within their soil than those with only arable crops, thanks to the animals’ manure. This also has an effect on biodiversity: mixed arable and livestock farms support about 28 grassland plant species in every field, compared with 25 for arable-only and 22 for dairy-only.