Planet Aid is a media sponsor for the 2023 Regenerative Agriculture and Textile Summit in Washington D.C. on Nov. 14-15. As a leader in sustainable solutions for textile waste, Planet Aid is pleased to provide coverage of the event and promote industry leaders working together to protect the environment by decreasing waste, conserving natural resources, reducing the use of harmful chemicals, and improving soil health. The summit is an opportunity for cross-industry collaboration between the textile and food industries to provide strategies to accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices.
What is regenerative agriculture?
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation defines regenerative agriculture as "a holistic approach to agriculture that focuses on the interconnection of farming systems and the ecological system as a whole." It focuses on rebuilding healthy soil, inherently reliant on the underground ecosystem.
The Fashion and Textile Industries
The fashion and textile industries are massive employing more than 3.4 billion people globally, nearly half of the world's 8 billion people. This includes farmers, textile machine operators, sewers, designers, retail staff, and much more. The industry is estimated to generate nearly $1.7 trillion in 2023. Unfortunately, these massive profits come with immeasurable ecological and environmental losses. The fashion and textile industries are also responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. Roundup.org estimates that 87 % of textile fibers are eventually incinerated or disposed of in landfills, which has long-lasting effects leading to soil deterioration and ocean pollution.
The Summit
The Regenerative Agriculture and Textile Summit will provide a space to address sustainable challenges through peer-to-peer sharing, solutions-oriented discussions, full supply chain involvement, and collaboration. The summit will emphasize the value of regenerative agriculture and illustrate viable pathways for collaboration in attaining climate goals. Agriculture and textile leaders will take the stage at the summit to present their successes, failures, and lessons learned. Speakers include:
Brent Crossland, Founder of SLOC Cotton
Liz Hershfield, SVP Head, Sustainability at J. Crew Group
Tameka Peoples, Founder of Seed2Shirt
Dalena White, Secretary General at the International Wool Textile Organization
Byron Rath, Chief Impact Officer at Soil Health Institute
Deepika Mishra, Global Sustainability Consultant at U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol.
Follow Planet Aid's social media for coverage of the event. Also, stay tuned for a Sustainable Solutions with Planet Aid podcast episode featuring summit speaker, Tameka Peoples, founder of Seed2Shirt.