The Rundown: A quick look at sustainability efforts you don’t want to miss
by Katrina L. Spencer | Photos by Katrina L. Spencer
Welcome to the very first entry in our column, The Rundown!
As we exit the most consumption-forward season of the year, you may have a niggling thought that can’t be ignored: “I have way too much stuff!”
You’ve thrown out the wrapping paper and stored your new, festive pajamas. The little ones’ toys have made all their noise. And Mr. Claus is done with his cause. The waste bin has been full to the brim the last three times you’ve taken it out!
If your home has been overrun with new items, some you’re not sure you need, you might be interested in hearing about sustainability efforts being carried out far and wide.
Of course Goodwill is already on your radar. You make a donation annually. You’ve got a card registered at your local library and occasionally use its Kanopy streaming service. Pretty cool. And you recycle, too. Good.
But is there more that can be done to make your home life feel more streamlined and targeted? As though you are consuming the products and they aren’t consuming you? Find new ways to expand your thinking about consumption below.
Raeven K., center, founder of That’s Sew Austin sewing studio, poses with sewing instructor Sandra Perry, right, and intern Carmen Cartlidge, left, in Austin, Texas, December 31, 2024. Photo by Katrina L. Spencer
Sandra Perry, left, instructs sewing student Ellen Weaver, right, in making a stitch at That’s Sew Austin, a sewing studio and community space in Austin, Texas, on December 31, 2024. The business supports efforts of sustainability in promoting repair and creating of clothing items and more. Photo by Katrina L. Spencer
National: That’s Sew Austin
Entrepreneur Raeven K. has gone retro with her sustainability-minded business. She has opened That’s Sew Austin, a sewing studio in Texas that allows sewists of all backgrounds and experience to make and repair garments and other fabric-based items for wear, leisure, decoration and other purposes. In the mid-20th century, sewing and textile arts would have been par for the course for many high school students. Classes would have trained students to mend, darn and stitch, assuming these skills would be of immediate, regular and practical use in the domestic realm. However, in the contemporary age of fast fashion, quick fixes with a needle and thread are largely unheard of amongst the younger generations. Raeven K.’s That’s Sew Austin provides a community-oriented solution to the head-spinning pace of clothing turnover in creating a third space: a gathering point for people outside of work and home where they can share a mutual interest and productive hobby. Raeven K.’s membership model allows shop users multiple visits, contact with other like-minded people and lifelong access to a useful skill set.
Tech: Too Good To Go
When I first heard about Too Good To Go’s premise, the foodie in me rejoiced. It’s an app with a catalog of local stores and restaurants that sell their goods and meals at a significantly discounted price when in oversupply. The items sold, while in good condition, are otherwise destined for the trash. Imagine your favorite local pastry shop prepares five dozen donuts to sell and near closing time, they still have 12 units that customers haven’t scooped up. With the app, users can browse their preferred stores, restaurants and vendors, and see when food is available to pick up. Sometimes the items are clear or specific because of the nature of the site. For example, a restaurant where I live is called Bao’d Up and they sell, well, “bao,” steamed buns with both savory and sweet fillings. A vegan food truck sold me sea moss gel, a dietary supplement. An Ethiopian restaurant sold me a plate of tibs, a variety of cooked and spiced meats and vegetables, and injera, a spongy, porous and fermented flatbread. At other times, the description of what’s available may be more vague, for example, “assorted pastries.” For people with a broad variety in their diet, a sense of adventure, insatiable curiosity and/or a tight budget, the smorgasbord of what could be might prove exciting.
Global: Germany’s household electronics repair program
A man repairs a cell phone. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko
I first saw mention of Germany’s “reparaturbonus” while reading Lenora Chu’s reporting in the Christian Science Monitor. It’s a small bit of money budgeted to reimburse people for repairing their household electronics. Over in Deutschland, following successful implementation in Austria, the government is testing out a program that incentivizes consumers to retain and maintain their purchases longer, thereby reducing waste. Imagine having a lamp or kettle suddenly stop working and instead of pitching it, routing it to a landfill and replacing it, you take it to a shop, pay a repair fee and seek reimbursement from the State. This way you get to have your cake lamp and eat light it, too! Today’s market is built around “planned obsolescence” -- a premature and defined timeline for products’ expiration and consumers’ anticipated repurchase. This initiative certainly throws a wrench in the works. What U.S. city do you think would be most likely to adopt a trial program like this? My vote is for Portland!
The entire discussion, we hope, is inspiring. It reminds me of the alternative world we may produce if we don’t start thinking long-term about our consumption habits. One imagined interpretation was seen in Pixar’s 2008 Wall-E in which the Earth falls victim to ecocide and becomes uninhabitable. What sustainability initiatives do you engage in that protect us and our environment from outcomes such as this?