This year the Chesapeake Fibershed is continuing it’s Sustainable Cloth Challenge with its “We’re Local. Wear Local” campaign. As always, the challenge is about raising awareness of locally made clothing and home textiles and why that matters. In past years the focus has been on making textiles within our fibershed and we’ve seen that we are capable of creating beautiful textiles locally.
But what if we cast a broader net to find clothing that supports community and the planet? What if you consider clothing that was made in the U.S. from US grown organic fiber and uses natural dyes? By defining local in this year’s challenge as locally made goods and fiber resources found locally, regionally or countrywide, it allows us to access to more responsible clothing choices and supports fibershed producers and businesses throughout the country.
Local fiber and wearables can be found from many of our producer members and we encourage you to seek them out and support them. You can also look to other fibersheds to see what their members are making with local fiber, local dye and local labor. There are several clothing brands that use natural fibers, naturals dyes and are made by locals – when you search online look for organic, natural fiber clothing. Don’t forget to look at the details such as where the fiber is grown and where the garment is sewn.
And importantly, we can “wear it forward “ by thrifting, swapping, upcycling, mending, or creative reuse. These are all options that can lead to a more sustainable wardrobe and keep textiles out of landfills. 
Are you in? Post your local outfits on social media. Let others know the story of those clothes. We can all be influencers of sustainable fashion. Let’s start now.
