GEOMIO AND MINAWEAR PREPARE FOR EARTH DAY

Had a good talk yesterday with Edie Marrs of GeoMio, a natural fibres company in Los Angeles which has recently merged with Minawear Hemp Clothing. She is into hemp and all other natural fibres, with a large selection of bamboo articles in stock to choose from. A very interesting person she seems, telling me that happiness is being curled up with an academic tome about 5,000 year old fibres. Mention nettles, ramie, jute or kenaf to most people and they draw a blank, but to Edie, these are hot topics.

These are not, however, just niche fields for hobbyists, as the cultivation of cotton and the production of plastics threatens to destroy our way of life. Water is becoming more and more expensive, so much so that in the future wars may be waged over access to this simple compound, yet cotton is reducing major waterways to trickles, both in the East and in the West. In the former, the Aral Sea is reduced to half of its size since 1960, and in the West, waterways in California are becoming depleted, with migratory birds unable to find their way.

Edie and her new partner Mina Hegaard will be in Santa Barbara this Earth Day, so if you are able to swing by, say hi and, with a good ocean breeze to take copies of Hemp for Victory to the dock in LA, they will be in hand, the first shipment to America. If you miss them there, copies can be ordered at the links provided above.