The Wondrous World of Living Color

01/05/21 • 65 min

Sustainable World Radio- Ecology and Permaculture Podcast

Step into the vibrant and beautiful world of living color with natural dyer, designer, and artist Sasha Duerr.

Sasha takes us on a journey from Soil to Studio. We learn how creating and working with dyes made from plants, seaweed, and other natural materials can increase our ecological and botanical knowledge, foster collaboration, and have a beneficial impact on ecosystems.

Natural dyeing offers us multiple opportunities to participate in solutions. Food scraps and green waste can transform old clothes into “new”. Instead of being buried at landfills and emitting VOC’s, organic materials like onion skins, pomegranate rinds, and citrus peels can be re-purposed into natural dyes that revitalize our wardrobes and lessen our carbon footprint. Some dyes can even be poured into the garden when finished and used as a fertilizer.

Unwanted weeds in your yard or invasive plants in your neighborhood can also be turned into color. One of my favorite dyes is Sour Grass. I look forward to seeing this ubiquitous plant every winter. I collect loads of it and dye old clothes a neon yellow that really glows. (Note: Be sure to identify plants before using them as dyes- just in case they are toxic.)

Sasha talks about a few of her favorite dyes including Loquat, Eucalyptus leaves, and Redwood Cones, all very appropriate plants for beginning dyers. We also learn about some of the palettes from her new book Natural Color. I especially loved the Pollinator and Perfume Palettes. They will make you swoon!

What color story would you like your clothes to tell?

Sasha Duerr is an artist and designer who works with plant-based palettes, natural dyes, and place-based recipes. She is an Adjunct Professor at the California College of the Arts with a joint appointment in textiles and fine arts where she designs curriculum and teaches courses in the intersection of natural color, slow food, slow fashion, and social practice.

Her work has been shown in galleries and museums across the United States and abroad. In 2007, Sasha founded the Permacouture Institute to encourage the exploration of regenerative design practices for fashion and textiles. Her extensive work with plant-based palettes and ecological principles through local land-based sources and community has been featured in many publications She is the author of The Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes, Natural Color, and Natural Palettes.Discover more about Sasha and her work at SashaDuerr.com.

Sasha mentions the following references in this episode:

Books by Kate Fletcher

Fibershed

Greenpeace

Botanical Colors

Step into the vibrant and beautiful world of living color with natural dyer, designer, and artist Sasha Duerr.

What color story would you like your clothes to tell?

Sasha mentions the following references in this episode:

Books by Kate Fletcher

Fibershed

Greenpeace

Botanical Colors

Previous Episode

How to Create Living Compost

Episode 158: Longtime organic farmer Mark Sturges believes that when we create a better habitat for beneficial insects, we create a better habitat for ourselves. Mark is a master compost maker whose compost is filled with life. When Mark creates compost, he encourages the "whole neighborhood" to move in. The cast of characters in Mark's neighborhood are vast and include beetles, rotifers, fungi, nematodes, springtails, enchytraeids, and Beauveria bassiana- an insect "eating" fungi.

Mark and I chat about compost tea and how its application can re-invigorate plants, soil, and large areas of land. You'll hear about Mark's successful use of compost tea in a vineyard suffering from a Phylloxera infestation. Mark's tea was sprayed on a Pinot block and the grapes were saved!

Mark is a so-called entrepreneurial "Entra-Manure" who fills us on the importance of manure in the compost loop. He tells us why we shouldn't use chemical de-wormers on our animals and what effect these products have on beneficial insects, especially beetles. In turn, a lack of beneficials can lead to devastating impacts on pasture land, soil, animals, and climate.

After hearing Mark talk about beetles, maybe you'll obtain Beetle Enlightenment like I did! I now have a deep appreciation for these unsung heroes of decomposition who also have an important role to play in mitigating climate change.

Mark Sturges makes and ships organic compost and compost creatures nationwide from his Chili Nervanos farm in Bandon, Oregon.

Mark is a writer whose work has appeared in Acres USA. His book of poetry The Return of the Fertilizer King and Other Tales is available online. Mark doesn't have a website. His work is all word of mouth. You can reach Mark at: ChiliNervanos382 (at) gmail.com.

Next Episode

Building a More Resilient World

Episode 160: Lonny Grafman has worked with hundreds of communities around the globe assisting them with projects across a broad spectrum of sustainability. In this inspiring episode Lonny reflects on his decades of work and shares his knowledge and experience about how to build more resilient communities.

Lonny talks about his early beginnings as an activist, how he became a “practivist,” and why he believes that empowering community resilience is the most vital component in creating and implementing lasting and successful design solutions. We chat about the value of Point Positive Design, the importance of listening and observation, and how we can all participate in the great and necessary work of increasing the health and resiliency of ourselves, our communities, and the ecosystems that we depend on.

Lonny is the founder of the Appropedia website and author of the books To Catch the Rain and the forthcoming To Catch the Sun.

Lonny Grafman is an Instructor of Environmental Resources Engineering and Appropriate Technology at Humboldt State University; the founder of the Practivistas full immersion, abroad, resilient community technology program; the Advisor and Project Manager (and at times fundraiser) for the epi-apocalyptic city art projects Waterpod, Flock House, WetLand, and Swale; the managing director of the north coast hub of BlueTechValley, supporting energy saving entrepreneurs; the director of the AWEsome Business Competition for groups working on Agriculture, Water and Energy in Northern California; and the Founder and President of the Appropedia Foundation, sharing knowledge to build rich, sustainable lives.

Lonny has taught university courses in six countries and presented in dozens more. He has worked and led teams on hundreds of domestic and international projects-from solar power to improved cookstoves, from micro-hydro power to rainwater catchment, from earthen construction to plastic bottle schoolrooms.

Learn more about Lonny here: appropedia.org/User:Lonny