How To Vote For The Party You Want, While Still Voting Tactically To Remain

December 11, 2019

Being forced to vote tactically is not real democracy, moving the question from "who's policies best represent me" to "who do I hate least". ⁣That said, here in the UK, 126 marginal seats with competitive 'axis' of Leave/Remain will swing our country away from Europe, or swing us away. ⁣

However, Brexit isn't the only thing at stake, what is at stake is meaningful societal change. And whether we 'leave' or 'remain', no party beholden to our current economic systems of 'GDP', held up by fabricated ‘demands’ beholden to our acts of compulsive consumption can ever bring the change needed. ⁣

I only know one party who can regenerate our culture and country. Who has the wisdom, values and track record to offer and deliver meaningful social, economic and climate justice that will weave and intersect at every level of reality, but they're barely given a blip on the screen.⁣

So I pondered, tried to gain deep understanding, and thanks to the guidance, explanations, conversations, collaborations, and creations with friends, family, fellow influencers, candidates, leaders, and think I have an idea of what those feeling lost can (try to) do. ⁣ Using the power we hold in the ballot box, our belief that we can change our collective reality, and our hope for the future. ⁣

STEP 1: KNOW WHAT YOU ARE VOTING FOR

It is easy to be swayed by the media's portrayal of this election and its parties. Instead of letting your mind be made up for you, try voteforpolicies.org.uk which will help ensure you're voting for policies which align with your values, rather than being swayed by the 'two-horse' and 'tactical' narrative. This is the 'Brexit Election', but this is ALSO the 'Climate Election' and, the 'Human Rights' election. All of the issues covered in each party's manifesto will shape our lives and all lives to follow. This is not, and cannot be a single-issue election. 

please note ...

Based on 526.3k surveyed by voteforpolicies.org.uk which presents policies without the party's name for people to select based on the information, the true race would between Labour (24.1%) and The Green Party (22.9%). 

However, if in addition to this, voters read each party of interest's manifesto, uncovering how the policies connect and the reality they paint for us, collectively, would Labour still lead? Though Labour has co-opted The Green Party's creations including 'The Green New Deal' and the 'Green Industrial Revolution', there are huge contradictions living within their manifesto, which I've listed after 'Step 4' below. 

STEP 2: FIND OUT IF YOU CAN VOTE FOR THE PARTY YOU WANT

Based on your results from voteforpolicies.org.uk, head over to tactical.vote and see what the situation is in your constituency. Voting tactically can go beyond the party tactical.vote state, if under your constituency the site says is 'not a marginal seat' or 'tactical voting is unnecessary' then choose the party who you feel best represents you, empowering their voice in your area. 

please note ...

If your constituency is not a swing seat or marginal seat (having a margin between leave/remain parties of more than 10%), or if you live in a 'remain' party stronghold, you do not need to vote 'tactically' to 'remain', as your constituency's future, for the most part, was decided decades ago. In this election, already existing electoral pacts will likely have a bigger impact than tactical voting at the polls, as people voting tactically along a Leave/Remain axis will broadly cancel each other out. 

There are 10 places with key swing seats (North East Fife, Hastings and Rye, Canterbury, Workington, Bolsover, Kensington, Richmond Park, Crewe and Nantwich, Brecon and Radnorshire, Cheltenham) which may define the general election. There are an additional 116 marginal seats where the axis of change has a swing of less than 10%. These are the seats to vote tactically in.

STEP 3: CAN YOU SWAP YOUR VOTE?

If the party you want in power doesn't have a member standing in your constituency, or if you live in a swing seat, you can 'swap your vote' with someone to give the party you align with most a voice somewhere else. The app providing this connection, Swap My Vote, is said to have swung results in the 2015 election in Hove, Chester and Ealing Central and Acton. 

please note ...

As most of my readers are environmentalists who would likely vote for The Green Party. A Green Vote Is NOT A Wasted Vote. In key constituencies, you can help get more Greens into parliament to speak for people and the planet free of ties to industry. These key Green Party constituencies are Isle of Wight (Vix Lowthion) and or Bristol West (Carla Denyer), Stroud (Molly Scott Cato) as well as marginal seats throughout large cities like London. So if you're in a Labour stronghold, you could try Swap My Vote with people in those areas.

STEP 4: WHERE TO VOTE

The final step in this important process is knowing where to vote. If you haven't received your voting ballot, that's ok, just head to the polling station in your area and give them your name and address. Polling stations are open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 12 December. You can find your local polling station online at wheredoivote.co.uk

PART 2: HOW TO CHOOSE BETWEEN LABOUR OR GREEN

THINGS ENVIRONMENTALISTS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LABOUR

- Labour supports conventional economic growth (GDP), which is the main driver of climate breakdown and nature depletion.

- Labour supports HS2 which is an act of Ecocdie (a crime against nature and people). To create HS2, huge areas of natural woodland will be bulldozed, cutting already depleted wildlife habits in half and releasing carbon into the atmosphere, which increases global heating.

- Labour supports a new mine in Cumbria and Airport Expansions across the UK. If they're truly committed to 'carbon neutrality by the 2030s' why would they invest in these contributors to climate change? 

- Labour will renew and build Nuclear Power Stations (including Trident Renewal Programmes and Hinkey Point), a dangerous a degenerative energy source.

WHY A GREEN VOTE IS NOT A WASTED VOTE

- ''The Green New Deal', 'Green Industrial Revolution' and 'The New Deal For Nature' were all creations of THE GREEN PARTY There is no better party to instigate these policies then the people who created them.

- Every party receives 'Short Money' directly proportional to the number of votes their party receives. This money goes towards covering the party's cost and the creation of proposals like the three listed above. If you care about the planet and people, 'short money' for GREENS is vital. 

Already existing electoral pacts - like the one Greens, Lib-Dems and Plaid Cymru collaborated on - will likely have a bigger impact than tactical voting does. 

- We CAN get GREENS elected into parliament THIS ELECTION in key constituencies like Isle of Wight (Vix Lowthion), Bristol West (Carla Denyer), Stroud (Molly Scott Cato) and marginal seats throughout large cities like London (and everywhere).

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A New Deal For Nature: Amplifying the Voices and Rights of Nature and Wildlife

December 08, 2019

Within the walls of the world’s oldest active biological society, and under the watchful eye of gold-framed faces belonging to men who named and studied all manner of plants and life gathered a voluntary team of conservationists, nature writers, and one woke politician with a plan to amplify the voices and rights of these islands’ non-human beings for the first time in modern history.

Had these 18th-century folk Linnaeus, Darwin and Wallace now poised on the wall, known the abuses the next 200 odd years would cause nature to befall, they might have too stood in this way to save her. Yet as enchanted by the natural world that they were, they couldn’t have imagined how viciously our society would treat her. 

Life of the living on all levels has been purposefully neglected in political and public debate across the world. Painted over with threats of new borders and new wars which cover nature’s cries with other noise, as we bleed her dry for the sake of a vault full of tree pulp with numbers and faces on it.

Aware of these imbalances and injustices, those gathered behind the carefully carved podium at The Linnean Society of London announced their ‘New Deal For Nature’ with poetic urgency. Each line of each page laid out promising ideas to enhance the biodiversity of the natural world, while also increasing the diversity of human access to her. Ensuring the full spectrum of our species is engaged and empowered to know her, so their voices will also be raised to speak with and for her. 

To make the ideas presented more accessible, I’ve coalesced their proposals into an acronym for N.A.T.U.R.E, gathering the gist of their ideas, leaving space for the reader delve into the details (via the link in my profile) by desire and in time. 

Like The Green New Deal written by the same soulful leader (Caroline Lucas), I hope these words will help inspire you to spread the New Deal For Nature to the lands you dwell on too (alongside the Red Deal which protects the land and demands multi-species caretaking beyond the GND and beyond GDP also).

N - NATIONAL PARKS
and other protected landscapes
Approximately 60,000 species of animals and organisms inhabitant the UK, each deserving of the right to thrive and live a healthy life alongside us. Currently, the corners of the natural world protected by dutiful designations like ‘National Parks’ or ‘Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ are islands of biodiversity, caged by a sea of degenerative agriculture and concrete highways. To free nature from our imposed constraints, we have to open up the gates, creating a connected capillary network of corridors which stretch across the UK making space for nature to travel and flourish in levels not recently seen. This web of wonders must also be paired with similar definitions of expansion, increasing the number of protected places from 9.45% to 20%, bringing nature closer to people and - with the development of proper sustainable and affordable transport links – people from all walks of life, closer to nature. READ MORE

A - ADVOCATES
public voices for nature
For the natural world to have a place at the table, its voice must be restored in the corridors of power and on every neighbourhood council. To do this, statutory nature framework on all levels of local and national decision making would be inserted, to ensure, no matter which party presides over these islands, that state-funded conservation advisors will be heard. This voice made up of a re-empowered NCC and a newly established ‘Council For Nature' would be encouraged to work collaboratively. Reinforcing the links between non-government and government organisations to create a unified voice on nature policy across the nation. To support these groups, a budget framework would be built to fund their programs, census work and research, ensuring decisions made are backed by the latest science and traditional knowledge. READ MORE

T - TUTELAGE
biosecurity for our wildlife

There is no simple nor singular solution to the wildlife and nature crisis we’re wound in. To untangle ourselves we must retrain our brains to embrace collaborative critical thought led by intersectional systemic understanding to be integrated into comprehensive policy planning. Part of conservation and regeneration is protection (or for the sake of this acronym, ‘tutelage’) which is a complex section of stewardship not often shared. Though nature knows no borders, human aided migration of organisms and wildlife has introduced 3,000 non-native species and augmented an additional 10-12 every year, causing biodiversity and biosecurity issues for other living beings. In addition, archaic industrial hunting practices have further tipped the imbalance between native and non-native species, unnaturally increasing populations of favoured breeds, shooting endangered species, and mismanaging ‘pests’ to suit singular need. A New Deal For Nature proposes to activate implementation and ongoing development of the Invasive Non-native Species Framework Strategy for Great Britain and Overseas Territories, as well as reform of hunting practices here in the UK and an end to industrial shooting. Both of which shall protect the natural world and the species native to it. READ MORE

U - URBAN WILDLIFE
bringing nature to people and people to nature

They say it is hard to Love what you do not know, and hard to save what you do not Love, yet today, 83% of England’s population lives in urban areas, putting the majority of human beings out of reach of wild green spaces. A national rewilding and regreening of personal and public lands has been scientifically proven to increase our physical and mental wellbeing, while enhancing wildlife biodiversity and carbon drawdown. UK gardens cover an area larger than the county of Somerset, and more than 25% of the UK's public land could be restored to nature. For greening both public and private land, A New Deal For Nature proposes banning the use of toxic chemicals including pesticides, removing plastic grass, concrete, and other non-porous surfaces, and embracing instead the scruff and scrub which helps nature flourish. In addition, outfitting all homes and buildings with nesting houses and hedgehog holes for wildlife to live in and pass through will aid in cohabitation and care. Pocket parks and wildlife patches within 1km of every home, as well as ponds, marshes, or reedbeds and a village green per five houses newly build will create spaces for communities to gather in and children to play. Even industrial estates and shopping centres would be beholden to rewild and regenerate surrounding natural spaces. READ MORE

R - REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE & AQUACULTURE
how to produce food and revive wildlife
Regenerative Farming (practised with the use of cover crops, by mob grazing native animals, and by eliminating monocultures, GMO, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, nitrogen fertilizer and tilling) and Regenerative Aquaculture (which enhances fish populations and coastal habitats through small-scale, near shore, local traditional methods) offers restoration of both land and sea. Building healthy soil and de-acidifying oceans by feeding carbon to plants, which in turn forms nutritious food, reverses global warming and revitalizes local economies. The bulk of current farming and fishing practices displace carbon from plant matter on land and in the sea (where it creates life) and forces its migration into the earth's atmosphere and ocean's waters (where its overpopulation causes harm). ANew Deal For Nature proposes rewarding farmers financially for the biodiversity of their farms, supporting farmers and fishers to convert to regenerative practices, and funding people interested in becoming regenerative farmers or fishers to start their own low impact and environmentally beneficial methods of cultivation, locally, increasing biodiversity and human diversity on sea and land while enhancing food justice and food sovereignty for every human in the nation. READ MORE

E - EDUCATION
schools, curriculum and young people

The circle of ecological compassion is enlarged by direct experience in the living world and shrunken by its lack. Far too many young people have been robbed of access to nature, and by proxy hold little knowledge of our dependence on other species for healthy food, air, water, and wellbeing. A New Deal For Nature proposes to empower the next generation with ecologically literate education which puts nature at the heart of their learning, guiding each child and teenager with hope and solutions rather than fear and doom. By ensuring daily access to the natural world through a minimum of one-hour outdoor learning, establishing Natural History GCSE, twinning primary schools with local farms, creating outdoor edible growing areas in playgrounds and offering 10k annual work-placement opportunities in the natural world for teenagers to ensure relationships of reciprocity resonate past formative years. These programs intend to enhance nature relatedness by creating unbreakable bonds between the living world and each young person, regardless of ethnicity and social backgrounds. READ MORE

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The Green New Deal Explained

November 28, 2019

The Green Party UK stands for unity, for social and ecological justice, for peace, for economic reform, for deprivatisation, and for democracy. 

Throughout their history, their policies and efforts have been built on the bedrocks of equality and regeneration. ⁣⁣Choosing hope over fear, working to build bridges, not walls, and coalescing plans to unleash a green revolution that will create a safer, fairer future for all.⁣

I truly believe this is the best party to lead the UK; however, they’re heinously underfunded (they have around £200k to spend on this election while Labour and others have over £10 MILLION, you can help them out by DONATING HERE) which is a great hindrance to amplifying their voices and the change they hold the knowledge to create.⁣

I wrote this post to simplify the manifesto into digestible memorable and relatable text. Inspired by Extinction Rebellion's three demands, The Green Party has, what I'm calling, 'Five Green Promises' which I worked into a G.R.E.E.N.S acronym to make them easy to remember.⁣

G

GREEN NEW DEAL 

As the creators of The Green New Deal and the first party to unanimously declare a climate emergency, there is no party better equipped than The Green Party to implement policies which ambitiously and swiftly regenerate our climate and culture. 

Their Green New Deal is a comprehensive 10-year plan which aims to deliver fast and fair transformation of economy and society, providing abundance to everyone equally while progressively protecting the living planet from the grips of human gluttony and greed. 

This means making Ecocide Law, instating a carbon chancellor, introducing a carbon tax, halting fracking, and investing instead in locally produced renewable energy, creating hundreds of thousands of secure jobs across the UK in the process. 

Their investment in renewables doesn’t come without considerations of energy consumption, so they also commit to building 100,000 extremely energy efficient council homes a year and retrofitting 1 million more. This plan ensures sustainable shelter for everyone, reduces energy consumption, and will create 10 million homes able to generate their own renewable energy by 2030. 

Divestment from fossil fuels includes revolutionising the transport system through deprivatisation, expansion, restoration, and electrification of public transport. This will eliminate our dependence on carbon, reduce air pollution, and make transport more reliable, affordable, and accessible to everyone.

To coincide, they plan to help industry in reforming to embody a circular, low carbon economy. To aid in that transition to the green industrial revolution, £2 billion a year will be invested in training and skills to help people access the new, quality, well-paid, secure jobs created from investment in new technology and renewable energy in every corner of the country.
To help tackle poverty and enhance financial security, they are going to introduce a Universal Basic Income (UBI) paid to all UK residents, transforming the social welfare system through unconditional financial payment to everyone at levels above their subsistence needs, challenging how work is valued and opening doors of opportunity to everyone which might otherwise be out of reach. 

Deprivatisation is a key part of the Green New Deal, this includes hospitals, post offices, energy, water, railways and schools, putting public services back in the power of people. This goes for land use as well, increasing space for nature and enhancing food security through regeneration of soil, waterways, landscapes, habitats and species in urban, suburban and countryside settings, including rewilding projects and the reforestation of 700 million trees. 

To green the UK, The Green Party plans to refocus farming subsidies away from degenerative farming practices and towards carbon farming methods, creating localised, affordable, people-focused food systems, with 50% of all farms engaged in agroforestry by 2030. This greening of the UK will enhance food sovereignty, protect soil and water, reverse global heating, protect and create jobs, reduce poverty, and regenerate our biosphere, and health of our culture as a whole. Laying down a natural inheritance of biocultural abundance to be passed down to future generations.

R

REMAIN & TRANSFORM 

When it comes to Brexit, The Green Party has unwaveringly advocated to remain in the European Union in the name of unity, climate resilience, social justice, and peace.

They believe in international bridges, not walls, and are committed to helping the EU transform into an accountable and transparent beacon of democracy which works collaboratively to heal the big issues faced by humanity.

Nature has no borders, nor do climate solutions, and their manifesto lays out plans of committed collaboration with UK's neighbours throughout the EU, to transform all governments into accountable and transparent beacons of democracy, built through regenerative relationships of compassion and humanity.

E

EQUALITY FOR ALL 

Social justice and environmental justice are intrinsically linked, and the imbalances created by degenerative policy has cast the climate into chaos and curated corrosive levels of inequality.

The Green Party is committed to tackling discrimination by reversing austerity, funding public services, ending the war on drugs, creating compassionate migrant policy, enhancing indigenous rights and autonomy worldwide, decolonising the school curriculum, and amplifying education and programmes which lift up the rights and lives of BIPOC / BAME and LGBTIQA+ communities.

E 

ECONOMICS OF ABUNDANCE 

Our current economic system is destroying our planet’s capacity to sustain life, putting our economy, climate and society at risk of chaotic collapse. The green industrial revolution and tax reforms outlined in their manifesto will create an economy which delivers prosperity free of consumptive GDP growth. 

Their goal seems to be to redefine societal definitions of abundance to reflect and be measured by the prosperity of human health, reduction of inequality, and regeneration of the natural world. Building policies which protect and enhance the living planet, respecting her limits and rights.

N

NET ZERO BY 2030 

The Green Party's Green New Deal is basically a roadmap on how to tackle climate and ecological breakdown at the scale and speed set out by science, for the total elimination of carbon emissions by 2030.

S

SYSTEMS CHANGE

Throughout the manifesto, The Green Party makes clear they are (and always have been) aiming to fix our broken democracy by sharing power and wealth equally.

Their commitment to the implementation of Citizens’ Assemblies will ensure democratic decision making here in the UK (and abroad) is representative of all peoples in this beautifully diverse nation, as well as peoples who live in countries affected by the decisions made on these islands. If implemented and practised properly, Citizens' Assemblies hold the power to unleash a revolution in democracy that lifts up everyone, nature and wildlife included, equally.

photo: unsplash

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Extinction Rebellion's Election Rebellion, Does The Green Party UK Meet XR's Demands?

November 16, 2019

Over the past week, Extinction Rebellion, a grassroots movement I have participated in both here in the UK and France, has been sending out newsletters regarding their 'Election Rebellion', offering rebels the information to make informed decisions and demands. 

While I am a member of XR and support (for the most part) their actions and choice to remain apolitical, as an individual, I do not believe the climate crisis can be divorced from politics. As a result of these beliefs, I've chosen to invest my time in both grassroots actions and political reform in tandem, in hopes I can help bookend the problems. 

It’s not enough to be pissed about political policy after it’s been made, we have to stop giving power to people who don't have the interests of the living at heart. 

In addition to participating in XR, I have also recently become a member of The Green Party UK (in fact, as of Monday, November 18, I'll be working for them part-time to help them - hopefully - win seats in this election). I joined them for a multitude of reasons, first, because I feel they are the only party who can properly address the climate and social justice issues which require immediate and drastic systems change, and second, because I feel they meet XR's demands with honesty and integrity.

Extinction Rebellion, as part of this ecological election, asks each political party #whereisyourplan - so rather than a plan at face value, I used some of the money donated to me through Patreon, to attend The Green Party's Autumn Conference in Wales a month ago, so I could witness their policymaking process and read their 200 page 'Final Agenda'.

What I found, is that The Green Party meets XR's demands, bar one tiny detail:

Does The Green Party Meet Extinction Rebellion's Demands?

the answer is 99.9 percent yes

01 – TELL THE TRUTH

XR Demand: Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.

The Green Party UK: was the first party in the UK to have all of its members declare a climate emergency. In fact, they've been telling the truth about the climate emergency since they were officially founded 30 years ago. The party's origins date back to the 70s with the ‘PEOPLE Party’ and ‘The Ecological Party’ who worked to bring the issues of climate breakdown and global heating to the political realm before scientists had even come to a consensus on what was going down.

02 – ACT NOW

XR Demand: Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2025.

The Green Party: The Green New Deal (the one you know thanks to AOC and The Sunrise Movement breathing new life into it) was written by a group of environmentalists (many members of The Green Party) and Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, 11 years ago. In fact, net-zero has been written into every aspect of their policy since before XR became necessary. HOWEVER, at The Green Party conference I attended, I witnessed an hour-long debate over whether they should promise net-zero by 2025 or 2030. Interestingly, the only reason they have not promised 2025 is that they do not want to lie.  The reality is, that they have not uncovered a path backed by scientific evidence to achieve net neutrality by 2025 .. .so in order to continue to TELL THE TRUTH they are sticking to 2030, rather than lying for the sake of publicity. 

03 – BEYOND POLITICS

XR Demand: Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

The Green Party: Having witnessed the policymaking process at The Green Party conference, and witnessed ‘Citizen’s Assembly’ at XR, the only difference in function was that you have to be a Green Party Member to participate (it costs £3 to become a member). That said, if we put them in power, the functions of opening that process up to a public citizen’s assembly, which they wholly support, would be obvious. We’ve just got to vote for them and donate to them so they have the funding and voice to make the changes they’ve promised. 

Will Extinction Rebellion UK Go On A Hunger Strike Because Of The 5-year Net-Zero Gap?

I sincerely hope not. If XR is going to make demands, and if those demands are met by The Green Party apart from the 5-year gap which can't be currently met by science, this should be made clear to hunger-striking rebels. Many of the people rebelling with XR are often less educated on the issues and look to XR for advice and leadership. XR admits to having no proof that 2025 is possible, and because of this, I feel it should be made clear - that it is essentially science and honesty they'll be striking against when it comes to The Green Party.  

Yes, we need systems change, and yes, we need the government to change dramatically, but that is our responsibility as voters to put in place. Critical thinking, conversation, collaboration. These are the pillars of transformation in the creation of the regenerative culture. I truly believe we can do better, especially if we work together. I won't support intentional misinformation no matter loud the roar. 

** IF YOU FOUND THIS PIECE EDUCATIONAL, PLEASE CONSIDER A ONE-TIME OR MONTHLY DONATION TO MY PATREON ACCOUNT **

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Regenerative Textiles: Is Linen Environmentally Friendly?

November 14, 2019

For as long as humans have dressed beyond the bone, linen fabric has been the main material we've worn. As a bast fiber, linen is spun from seed to fabric from the inner stem of the flax plant, a plant so diverse its stems, leaves and seeds can be transformed into ingredients for multiple industries. 

Since flax grows in almost any season, and in almost any type of soil (including soil which can't be used for food production) it can be cultivated and manufactured as a regenerative regional fiber. As a perennial plant, flax mobilizes phosphorus in the soil, adding to organic matter both as it grows and as it decomposes. Flax also acts as a perfect winter cover crop, and thrives best in crop rotations, helping bring an end to monoculture farming while aiding in carbon drawdown and preventing soil depletion. When left undyed, or dyed with regeneratively grown plant-dyes, it is also beautifully biodegradable, encouraging sustainable fashion through carbon farming systems. 

5 QUESTIONS TO ASK TO FIND OUT IF LINEN IS REGENERATIVE, SUSTAINABLE, OR GREENWASHED?

In 2017, a Pulse of the Fashion Industry report stated that bast fibres (linen, hemp, ect) are the second most sustainable out of all the natural fabrics (after wool, which when created following the principles of Fibershed's Climate Beneficial™ Wool , is regenerative); 

Unfortunately, like any popular fashion fiber, there are many brands using conventional linen (promoted as sustainable) to greenwash their collections. Though conventional linen is still more sustainable than conventional cotton, it is important to understand a few things to prevent greenwashing from happening. 

So, to educate myself (and anyone reading this), I put together 5 questions to ask brands so you can suss out how green their linen clothing, supplies or homeware are before you purchase : 

1. Is The Linen Used Organic?

Not all linen is created equal, and unless it is grown organically, or even better, regeneratively, it is not sustainable. Though conventionally farmed flax is still more sustainable than cotton, conventional linen still poses harms as it relies on herbicides and pesticides, as well as synthetic nitrogen, which pose pollution pains to groundwater, rivers, and marine ecosystems. Linen cultivated in areas that have had a long history growing it are less likely to use these toxic-chemicals; however, organic linen guarantees they're free of harm. So, ideally, you want to ask the brand if the linen has been grown organically or (toxic)chemical-free.

2. Does The Farm Use Crop Rotation & Cover Crops?

Flax is traditionally reliant on crop rotation, so some European flax, for example, will have a cover crop like alfalfa which is used in rotation with flax before in order to feed the life below ground and protect the soil. Soil which is protected with plant life sequesters carbon, while soil left bare contributes to carbon's overpopulation in the atmosphere. 

3. Does The Farm Practice Dew Retting or Enzyme Retting?

After linen's 100-day growth period, the plant is harvested by pulling it from the root and laying it across the field. In regenerative agriculture, leaving roots in the ground is one of the principles, however, with linen, the whole plant must be harvested, so the rule slightly shifts as the process of extracting the linen feeds the microorganisms below the ground. 

The inner bark of the flax stem, which transports water into the living plant, is the part of the plant linen is spun from. To access that bark, the inner canal must be released from the 'glue' which holds it in place. To do this, the plant must be retted. Traditionally, this process is done through dew retting, where the pectins ('glue') is released through a combination of dew and sunshine over the course of a few weeks. 

Recently, enzyme retting, which is a similar process, has been developed. The idea with enzyme retting is to speed up the natural process and maintain higher consistency with the fibers. Enzyme retting is still sustainable, but dew retting is the most natural and traditional way, nature usually takes her time for a reason.

Finally, there's water retting, which is faster (about 5 days) but significantly less sustainable because the plant is removed from its natural habitat in the field (where it protects soil carbon and feeds microbes in the soil, reversing global warming) and is left to soak in the rivers or streams. This results in a high level of pollutants being released into the waterways, including agrochemicals if the flax has been grown non-organically, as well as excess plant matter which imbalances the eco-system. So try to avoid water-retted linen.

4. Is the linen its natural colour or dyed with plant-dyes?

During the retting process the fibre obtains its natural beige/ecru colour, just like wine, the amount of sun influences the colour so it can be more grey or more golden depending on the weather local to it during the retting process. If you're looking for linen in brighter colours, the best bet is to look for plant-dyed linen as conventional dyes, and even 'eco' dyes, wreak havoc on our ecosystems. You can learn more about the importance of plant-dyes HERE.

5. Has the linen been treated?

You want to avoid treated linen above all, if it says 'wrinkle-free' or 'wrinkle-resistant' it's been treated with formaldehyde, if it is 'stain-resistant' it's been made so with a chemical called PFOA which is carcinogenic.

ECO-FRIENDLY LINEN CLOTHING BRANDS

BO RAGE

regenerative linen by fibershed USA

Handknit and spun from local fiber, Bo Rage creates linen and wool garments from regenerative regional threads.

WHERE TO BUY? Fibershed Marketplace

LEMUEL MC 

upcycled  zero waste oeko-tex certified linen UK

This collection of made-to-order Oeko-Tex 100 certified linen garments for men and women are created by skilled seamstresses in London. Each piece is made with 100% linen deadstock fabric which would have otherwise ended up in the landfill had it not been saved. The brand offers free repairs for life and is female-owned.

WHERE TO BUY? Buy Me Once

THE SUMMER HOUSE

sustainable affordable linen clothing for women INDIA

The Summer House effortlessly marries ethical production, sustainability and affordability into a touching trinity; eloquently embodying the artistry of fashion created slowly through conscious craftsmanship and pointed production that embraces a level of love and logic I’ve rarely seen. Most of their linen is organic and dew-retted, while some comes from local chemical-free farms in India which are not certified organic, but also not using chemicals ... so still organic ... if that makes sense. You can read more of my thoughts on them HERE.

WHERE TO BUY? thesummerhouse.in

RAWGANIQUES

sustainable organic linen clothing and underwear for men and women EU

Rawganics produces 100% organic linen underwear and clothing which are chemical-free, hypoallergenic, regenerative and ethically made in Europe. Their products are made in the USA, Canada and Europe, and are free of pesticides, GMO, dioxin, formaldehyde, PVC, toxic dyes and industrial chemicals.

WHERE TO BUY? USA Amazon.com EU Rawganique.com

ECO-FRIENDLY LINEN HOMEWARE BRANDS 

FINLAYSON

sustainable linen with a lifetime guarantee EU / UK

Finlayson has been creating high-quality luxury dew-retted organic linen bedding and textiles since the 1800s with an astounding 50-year warranty.

WHERE TO BUY? Buy Me Once UK / USA

MADE TRADE

sustainable linen homeware USA

Carrying various linen products, the best linen homeware brand Made Trade has on offer is by Area Home, who since 1990 has created high-quality homeware products made from OEKO tex certified organic linen which is grown and dew-retted in Lithuania.

WHERE TO BUY? madetrade.com

COYUCHI LINEN

sustainable linen homeware USA

Coyuchi creates linen homeware with 100% organic GOTS certified linen grown in France through a farmer's co-operative before being woven in India. Their supplier, Terre de Lin, uses alfalfa as a cover crop in rotation with flax, and the plant is dew-retted traditionally.

They also carry Climate Beneficial™ Wool items created in partnership with Fibershed. 

WHERE TO BUY? Coyuchi.com

REGENERATIVE LINEN FABRIC AND SUPPLIES

FABLE & BASE 

regeneratively grown local linen UK

Fable & Base print on natural dew-retted linen produced through Kent Cloth's regional fiber system, before being printed with natural plant dyes approved by The Soil Association UK. 

WHERE TO BUY? fableandbase.co.uk

CHICO FLAX

regeneratively grown regional linen yarn USA

Selling flax and wool blend yarn grown through regenerative agricultural production, Chico Flax produces regional fiber from flax grown in Northern California. Their dew-retted linen products are left undyed in their natural tones, and the seeds from the flax plant (which is not used in linen production), are passed onto local baker Dave Miller of Miller’s Bake House to complete the low waste process.

WHERE TO BUY? chicoflax.com/

** If you are you a regenerative or organic linen brand, producing with fiber that has been

dew-retted or enzyme retted, shoot me an email at hello at hollyrose.eco and I'll add you to this post **

** IF YOU FOUND THIS PIECE EDUCATIONAL, PLEASE CONSIDER A ONE-TIME OR MONTHLY DONATION TO MY PATREON ACCOUNT **

PHOTOS: MONIQUE PANTEL

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