Wabi sabi time has arrived

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Rethinking the way we live, work and play is happening as we adapt to the uncertainty and profound changes coming down the line with coronavirus. We can calm ourselves by focusing energy on living with creativity, simplicity and integrity, rather than worrying about distant unknowable possibilities.

Wabi sabi is a gentle approach to life embedded within Japanese culture that has its roots in Zen philosophy. As I (Jane Milburn) read more about wabi sabi during lockdown, it struck me as a way of living in tune with nature rather than seeking to control, manage and exploit it.

Jane Milburn wearing garments made from natural fibres coloured by leaves and bark. Photo by Patria Jannides.

At a time when we need to be adaptive and resourceful, wabi sabi is a salve that enables us to find beauty in what is around us, in all its imperfection and impermanence.

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Arising from Disruption, a Virtual Churchill

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As public health authorities and governments scramble to manage the coronavirus pandemic, we humans are sheltering in place, being called upon to stay home, be responsible, resourceful and resilient. The pandemic is profoundly changing the way we live and work, how we consume resources and entertain ourselves – and having dramatic economic, social and cultural impacts. I hope you’re keep safe, sheltering at home, in place, grateful to those on the frontline are doing battle with this threat.

Earlier this month, my long-planned Winston Churchill Fellowship study tour to Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe was deferred for an indefinite period. I’ve been gardening, upcycling and innovating – and now planning a Virtual Churchill as a short-term substitute for my real-world  one.  ARISING from Disruption is an emerging series of conversations with entrepreneurial people about self-sufficiency, resourcefulness and adaptation at this time for transformative change. I hope you find some seeds of inspiration and hope from their stories.

 

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Supporting local farmers

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Buy local and eat in season are simple ways to support local farmers. Most of my career has been in agriculture, so it was great to be invited by Moreton Bay Regional Council to moderate this conversation about community supported agriculture with these awesome women speaking the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum at the weekend.

Jenni Guse, Tash Johnston, author Jane Milburn, Flora Bradley and Amanda Schultz talk local farming

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Jane Milburn awarded Churchill Fellowship 2019

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Jane Milburn of Textile Beat has been awarded a 2019 Churchill Fellowship to investigate ways that hands-on upcycling actions can reduce textile waste and enhance wellbeing.

The fellowship will enable Jane to undertake research across three continents to further her work inspiring social change and contributing to sustainable living across communities through slow clothing practice.

“I feel deeply honoured to be awarded a Churchill Fellowship and I believe this recognition will elevate the slow clothing work I’ve undertaken since observing fashion excess in 2011,” Ms Milburn said.

Jane Milburn: Churchill Fellow 2019, Slow Clothing author, Textile Beat founder, agricultural scientist and Fashion Revolution Australia committee member.

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Posted in: clothing waste, leadership, lifestyle, slow clothing \ Tagged: ,

Creating, not consuming

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Waste is now visible in our lives. Throwing away our unwanted stuff is an act of power. We move it to the edge of the kitchen, then to the edge of the curb where it is taken to landfill on the edge of the city or to the ocean on the edge of the land. Recycling and upcycling are only shuffling the problem.

The waste solution lies in relearning skills we have forgotten like reusing, cooking, sewing, composting and creating for ourselves. Making everyday choices for health and wellbeing.

These insights are from a recent Circular Economy Futures meetup where speakers Jacq Driscoll from Biome and Dr Manuela Taboada from QUT’s Institute for Future Environments discussed waste solutions in our crazy convenient throwaway society.

Jacq Driscoll and Dr Manuela Taboada with Yasmin Grigaliunas at Circular Economy Futures Brisbane

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Posted in: consumption issues, leadership, lifestyle, reuse \ Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Creating a climate for change

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Climate change is everybody’s business.  We have lived experience of it, with extreme weather events now taking a physical, monetary and emotional toll on society. We have a profound obligation to act. If we don’t, future generations would be justified to look back and say ‘what were those people thinking – consuming and amusing themselves without thought for the future’.

We are in a climate emergency. It is not hyperbole. World scientists are ratcheting up their pleas for politicians to act and Mother Nature is speaking loudly with record heat waves (most recently in Europe), bushfires, storms and floods, and coral bleaching.

The frequency of extreme weather events has increased and global economic losses from these events in the past two years is estimated at $653 billion, according to insurance giant Aon. The UN estimates the world could see 1 billion climate migrants as their food and water supplies are impacted. This is not someone else’s problem, it will affect us all.

We know that climate change is real, because we have seen it and felt it. Of the hottest locations on Earth on January 24 this year, 91 were in Australia. Rain dumps in north Queensland led to massive flooding in Townsville and the loss of 600,000 cattle. There were catastrophic fires in central Queensland rainforest.

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Memories in cloth

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Do you carry an old-fashioned cloth handkerchief in your pocket or purse? Tissues and packaged wipes might be more convenient but we are becoming aware of their cumulative waste and moving back to reusable products.

There are memories in cloth. Favourite pieces may be mended and patched to extend their lifetime. Special garments may hang in wardrobes, even if they no longer fit, because they hold moments in time. The glimpse of an old favourite floral shirt, down-cycled to cleaning rag, evocatively sparks remembered joy of wearing. I am thrilled with my fabric-painted hanky squares that once were my little kids t-shirts (they’re now aged 24, 29 and 30) now upcycled as all-purpose cloths in my handbag.

These words first published in QCWA’s Ruth Magazine Winter edition 2019

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Posted in: clothing waste, leadership, lifestyle, reuse, slow clothing \ Tagged: , , ,

Upcycling is on trend

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Who wants our waste, our rubbish and our cast-offs? Last year’s news was China rejecting our recycled materials, this year’s news is charity shops being so overwhelmed they called a temporary halt to donations. It is time for a serious rethink on stuff.

When we go camping or on holidays we realise how little stuff we really need. At home we may have wardrobes full of garments while studies show we only actively wear about 20 percent of them.

Marie Kondo, The Minimalists and others have turned stuff management into a profession as everyday people become overwhelmed with possessions that are ultimately of little value.

Melissa Iland and Jenny Donaldson upcycling at CWA Tambo, reviving existing natural-fibre resources for fun, creativity and as a hands-on local response to sustainability and climate change.

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Slow Clothing in libraries

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I found my book Slow Clothing on the shelf at @brisbanelibraries Kenmore this week.  I was curious to know how it is categorised and pleased to find it under Social Science, Economics.
Economist Richard Denniss, author of Curing Affluenza, and the ABC’s War on Waste warrior Craig Reucassel earlier launched the book in Canberra and Sydney respectively, which affirms this library classification.
I have been doing values-based action research since 2013 as a response to fast fashion culture, textile waste and pollution. My goal was to make a difference, to influence and inspire change. Slow Clothing was self-published in late 2017. It is a holistic narrative around dressing for health and wellbeing, living lightly through the everyday practice of how we choose, wear and care for clothes.
There’s a lot more awareness and talk about sustainability in fashion now than when I started this work. That’s a good thing. It may, or may not, translate into substantial and sustained change. Keeping a watching brief on that and charting my next body of work.
#slowclothing #libraries #economics #culture #bethechange #livelightly #sustainableliving #climatechange #curingaffluenza #waronwasteau #sustainablefashion #fashionrevolution #leadership #naturalfibres #nomicroplastic
Posted in: clothing waste, consumption issues, leadership, lifestyle, slow clothing

Peak stuff is here

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Consumer culture is overwhelming us. New stuff arrives with Christmas gift traditions and Boxing Day sales, then we seek to shed old stuff and declutter for the New Year ahead. We take wisdom from the Minimalists and Marie Kondo and aim to move on stuff that isn’t bringing us joy. But there’s nowhere for it to go because almost everyone’s got too much stuff.

ABC News revealed shocking images of stuff dumped outside charity shops which are so overwhelmed by offerings that many have called time on donations for now. On top of that, there’s nowhere for our recycled stuff either.

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