fibershed

English

Etymology

Blend of fiber +‎ watershed, coined by Rebecca Burgess in 2011.

Noun

fibershed (plural fibersheds)

1. The geographic region from which come all of the resources to make an article of clothing.
   • 2014 March 18, Lisa Boone, “Fibershed L.A. pop-up features locally sourced crafts, artisans, farms”, in Los Angeles Times:

     Like a foodshed, a fibershed is a small geographical landscape, or bioregion, where artisans produce goods using natural dyes, materials and farms located within 150 miles of their front door. Whereas some fibersheds focus on creating sustainable clothing, Livingston said the Los Angeles event is about educating the community through "re-skilling" classes like spinning, lap loom weaving, knitting, sewing and dyeing.

   • 2015, Courtney White, Two Percent Solutions for the Planet, →ISBN, page 113:

     However, don't get it confused with a watershed, warns Burgess, because a fibershed must necessarily cross multiple topographic boundaries to work ecologically and economically. Right now, that means stretching the definition of "local" way out -- at least until sustainable fiber production takes off.

   • 2015 July 1, “12 Facts About the Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol Ragle Park August 8 and 9”, in Sonoma County Gazette:

     In recognition of Sonoma County's ranching heritage, thriving fibershed, and the Year of the Sheep in the Chinese zodiac, this year's poster boy and "rambassador" is Famous Ramus.

   • 2015 October 8, Gabrielle Saulsbery, “You Know Slow Food? Check Out Slow Fashion”, in Modern Farmer:

     A fibershed (a term Burgess coined) is a “geographical landscape that defines and gives boundaries to a natural textile resource base, engendering appreciation, connectivity, and sensitivity for the life-giving resources within our homelands.”

2. A movement to use textiles that are sourced locally.
   • 2011 May 26, Paul Liberatore, “West Marin textile artist is a fibershed fashionista”, in Marin Independent Journal:

     Now, it’s on the lips of the kind of environmentally conscious fashionistas who filled Toby’s Feed Barn in Point Reyes Station this month for the first ever fibershed fashion show.

   • 2015 April 16, Ann Carranza, “Baby Stella is the first lamb of her kind”, in Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

     “We are part of the fibershed movement, proud of making beautiful, useful items, in a sustainable, humane manner, with a low carbon footprint,” said Adkins, 63, a retired environmental ecologist.

   • 2016 January 9, Diana Kuklinski, Anna Carlson, “Sustainability Column: Weaving the fabrid of sustainability”, in The Bemidji Pioneer:

     Through increased interest in alternative sustainable systems, fibersheds have been a leading force encouraging producers and customers to use natural resources, such as fiber, in a more beneficial and efficient way.