Leading outerwear manufacturer Patagonia is partaking in an initiative to restore the grasslands of Argentina.

In an effort to reverse the 100 years of overgrazing on Patagonia’s 15 million acres of grasslands, Patagonia, Inc. has placed the first order of wool from the ranchers of its namesake region. The restoration program has been launched as a collaborative effort between The Nature Conservancy, Argentine rancher network Ovis XXI and Patagonia, Inc. to encourage ranchers to raise and graze their sheep in a sustainable method that protects wildlife and restores native plant species.

Patagonia, Inc. announced this new venture in January 2013, and is the first apparel manufacturer to support the restoration scheme. As the company has learned, sourcing and selling organic wool isn’t enough, as the organic standard does not take into consideration grazing practices. Patagonia’s agreement with Ovis XXI mandates that the ranchers raise their animals in a way that supports the long-term health of the region, and allows native species of plants and wildlife to re-establish healthy populations. Alongside restoration, this collaboration aims to provide a market incentive to attract additional partners and buyers, and more importantly, to encourage adoption of sustainable grazing and raising practices on a larger scale.

A new product line of Patagonia merino wool base layers will be made from this Patagonian wool, and will be available in stores and online in the autumn 2013 collection. The company says that from then on, every single merino baselayer, down to their merino socks, will be made from wool that is sustainably sourced from Patagonian grasslands. The wool from this region is of exceptional quality, and will likely continue to hold up to Patagonia’s reputation as one of the top providers of active and outdoor gear. The product types won’t change, just the origin of the wool, providing the company with their first opportunity to be “able to improve an environment by placing business there,” as Director of Environmental Strategy, Jill Dumain, says.

The complying ranchers use the Grassland Regeneration and Sustainability Standard (GRASS), which align conservation goals and land management protocols set forth by Ovis XXI and The Nature Conservancy. These protocols imitate wildlife grazing patterns, meaning that sheep will be moved from pasture to pasture depending on the condition of grasses. It is projected that proper management of flock sizes, lands and streams will promote higher ground coverage and encourage diversity of native grass species, allowing ranchers, sheep and native flora and fauna to flourish together.

Ranching on the grasslands is a source of livelihood for many of Patagonia’s inhabitants, but has become detrimental to the natural landscape as overgrazing has caused land erosion and desertification. The Southern Temperate Grasslands of Argentina reach over 400 million acres (nearly the size of 3 Californias), of which 20 million acres (10 Yellowstone National Parks) have already turned into deserts due to unsustainable grazing, rendering them unfit for native wildlife or ranching. The collaboration with Patagonia, Inc. is seen as a way to sustain the local economy, alongside restoring the unique ecosystem of the grasslands. The region is home to species such as the guanaco, a relative of the llama, the rhea, a flightless bird similar to an ostrich, and the last large population of the massive Andean condors, all of which are found nowhere else on the planet.

It is hoped that this partnership, which demonstrates a collaborative spirit in co-creating active change, will inspire and advance the implementation of globally sustainable grazing methods in order for sheep ranching and natural habitats to thrive side-by-side. “By working together we can ensure that the ranchers make a good living and that future generations will still know Patagonia as a wild place at the edge of the Earth,” said Chris Pague, an ecologist with the Nature Conservancy.

Images: Patagonia/Tim Davis

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My mother is a knitter and my closet is full of her chain link necklaces, soft cloche hats and chunky cowls. I love wool, but since reading an article recently sent to me, I’m reminded again of the environmental and ethical complexities of this natural fiber we so adore.

When we think of wool, it’s hard for many to think it could be anything but sustainable, growing off the back of a sweet little sheep. According to the Organic Trade Association, “In order for wool to be certified as ‘organic,’ it must be produced in accordance with federal standards for organic livestock production.”

That means no cruelty, no genetic engineering and as you might imagine, no being dipped in parasiticides (insecticides) to control external parasites. In Australia, super-soft Merino wool rules and mulesling, a painful wool shearing technique, is used on the majority of the sheep to hide-trim strips of “excess” flesh thereby maximizing wool output. This process eliminates the risk of Blowflies launching a full “flystrike,” a process by which flies nest in the folds of an animal’s skin. Feel free to feel ill. PETA narrated by singer Pink which, in traditional PETA fashion, is enough to make anyone think twice about eating lunch, much less buying a sweater.

You may have to do a little investigating to find out if the wool you are buying is mulesed or not as it’s atypical to have it appear on labels, but it will be well worth your time.

Jocelyn Tunney, of O-Wool and Tunney Wool Company, says investing in certified organic wool is comparable to how one should approach organic food.

“One would want to purchase organic wool for the same reasons as one would want to purchase organic food,” she says. “It’s a more sustainable farming solution, is kinder to the animals and is healthier for the consumer. Conventional wool is grown like conventional food – the land and sheep are sprayed and dipped in pesticides as a cheap means to increase salable product. The land organic wool comes from has to go through the same transition and certification process as the land organic food comes from.”

She’s quick to add that she’s talking about “certified” organic.

“A lot of people will label things organic (particularly wool) but organic holds very little meaning unless it is listed as certified organic, which has gone through a governmental certification process,” she says. “Here in the U.S. this is through the NOP (National Organic Program), which is how food receives the green USDA certified organic label. Wool itself can be USDA certified organic, but currently there is no certification process for textiles (yarn, fabric, etc.) in the USA, so a textile product cannot be certified. If you are purchasing something that does not say ‘made from certified organic wool,’ you are getting conventional wool.”

Donna Oakes, owner of vegan boutique Cow Jones Industrials says that because of the lack of accountability when it comes to verifying sustainable standards with animal-based products like wool and leather, she’s been a vegan consumer for 22 years.

“I am not comfortable selling items made from animals for a number of reasons – the most obvious products I wouldn’t sell would be those made from fur, next comes leather items – I don’t eat animals, so why would I wear them and if I don’t wear them, I wouldn’t sell items made from them,” Oakes says. “Wool is the area that doesn’t seem clear for a number of people who come into my shop. I could go on in detail but it really comes down to a very simple issue for most vegans: do we feel comfortable using animals for our own purposes? For me, this is not only an animal ethics question but one that I respond to as a feminist, and that answer is no.”

The Organic Trade Association advises that if you want to buy wool, consider this when you balk at higher prices:

1) Organic wool producers receive a higher price at the farm gate as their costs of production are higher, primarily associated with higher labor, management, and certification costs;
2) The organic wool industry is very small relative to the overall wool industry and does not have the economies of scale and resulting efficiencies of its conventional counterpart, and
3) Federal organic standards for livestock production prohibit overgrazing.  If the price of wool is low, the difference cannot be made up by simply increasing production per unit of land, as is commonly practiced by many livestock producers.

Image: Law_Keven

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Summertime is brutal on hair – what with humidity, swimming in pools, the ocean, and all the beatings your hair takes just from whipping it up into ponytails, buns and braids. There are some great conditioners out there to help battered tresses, but for the basic styling issues, let us suggest some options to brighten your mood and of course, hold back your hair.

A Alicia Wedding is a great hair accessory line out of London that produces handmade accessories based on “exploiting the textural and sculptural possibilities of ethically produced and vintage fabrics.”

The accessories are great for weddings but also great for adding a little pizazz to traditional bridal garb. And after your wedding day, you’ll have something really cute to wear at a later date.

Frogs and Pots recycles and re-purposes cast off materials when creating her hair accessories, fashioning them into little works of art for your locks.

I love this little fabric covered button elastic.

Etsy’s Niandra combines vintage glass and lucite beads with high quality handmade findings in copper, brass, silver or gunmetal. Her unique designs are gifts to us when it comes to maintaining side swoops and overly sunblocked bangs.

You can buy from BeSomethingNew’s website or custom order a hair accessory utilizing their vintage stash of goodies. This delicate headband is so summery and pretty you’ll want to frolic through a meadow, picnic with a lover, or do both and see what happens.

California native Leslie Yang, founder and designer for Feisty Elle,  has a love for bright colors and bold accessories (which I share with her). She produces hair clips made from laser cut Merino Wool felt. Love.

Thea Starr creates the most beautiful (non-wilting) flowers out of vintage kimonos. Choose from pin forks, hair clips, bobby pins, combs and headbands.

Have fun deciding which one you like best as they’re magnificent.

Image: Evil Erin

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