The eco guide to new mindful activism
Activists are the vital foot soldiers of the environmental movement. But is the classic activist model – placard-bearing and angry – actually effective? There’s a suggestion that if you’re not shouting in the face of The Man 24 hours a day, do you actually care?
Author Sarah Corbett cares very much, not just about activism, but activists themselves. In her book How to be a Craftivist, she warns that the angry variety can be in danger of burning out. She nearly did, until she realised that as an introvert she needed a different style of protest. Corbett found it in craftivism, a term coined by writer Betsy Greer –who describes it as “a way of looking at life where voicing opinions through creativity makes your voice stronger and your compassion deeper”.
This is mindful activism as opposed to the “robotic” sort; it is thought-out, strategic and engaging in approach. Of course, it won’t work for every issue: Donald Trump is unlikely to reconsider pulling out of the Paris Climate Treaty on receipt of a needlepoint coaster. But Corbett has scored some impressive successes, changing minds by embroidering hankies asking for action on living wages in the garment industry and giving them to shareholders at a major high street brand’s AGM.
Corbett has found a way of doing her own thing rather than running herself into the ground. This brings me to the second new book, which also redefines activism. The Happy Hero, by another British woman, Solitaire Townsend, is the antithesis of the hair-shirt protest model. If you can do activism right, says Townsend – an environmental consultant who persuades major brands to change their ways – you’ll get the most spectacular kickback: it will make you happy.
The big picture: exploring a frozen world
What’s happening beneath the Earth’s crust? This is the question that haunts explorer Francesco Sauro. He and microbiologist Joseph Cook, who sampled the ice core as they went, spent 13 days on an expedition in Greenland in the deepest glacier cave ever explored. Their trip is captured in a series of images, Inside the Glaciers, sponsored by Moncler (who designed special outerwear for the expedition).
Well dressed: khadi – traditional fabric for a modern world
Suddenly we’re awash with potential solutions for the polluting global fashion industry. Typically
these involve disruptive innovation, such as switching to futuristic new fibres with lower impact. But the Khadi UK Initiative, formed by ethical activists and business owners, is convinced a traditional form of garment production holds the key. Khadi is hand-spun, hand-woven cotton often combined with silk and wool. Mahatma Gandhi saw it as the symbol and means of selfemployment and self-reliance for rural India. To khadi fans, this textile production is wholly sustainable and respects everyone in the supply chain, from farmers and designers to the wearer. Enthusiasts will be making their case for khadi as ‘the fabric of sustainable society’ and hoping to attract new fans at Bermondsey’s Fashion and Textiles Museum on 24 November. A Way Ahead: Ethical Khadi, ftmlondon.org
Email Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @lucysiegle