New Circles: How to Create a Legacy

Ever thought about the journey your favouritest piece of clothing?
Hold onto your needles and threads, because we're about to explore the world of mending and repairing!
Try to spot my very first invisible mending job on a damaged cashmere sweater, and join me as I journey into the realm of visible mending with Elysha from Worth Mending. We dive into the benefits of mending services in retail stores and how it could be a game changer in the fashion industry.

But this is not just about stitching up worn-out clothes; it's a call to arms against exploitative practices in the fashion industry. We expose the harsh reality behind a luxury brand (Who could it be?!).
Hopefully my mending journey inspires you to take up the needle and thread not just to breathe new life into your clothes, but as a subversive act against fashions unethical practices. So, join me, Miranda Black, on this second day of Remake's #nonewclothes mini challenge!
Stitch by stitch, we'll transform how you perceive your clothes and the industry that creates them.

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Am I about to become a nudist?!
Noooo!
#NoNewClothes is a is a challenge just like pouring ice water over your head or eating a spoon of cinnamon except way less cold and dangerous!
Can I do it?!!
Can I go without buying ANY NEW TEXTILES for 90 days?!!
Let's go inside to find out!


Hey, I'm Miranda Black, the DeGrowth Diva and this summer I set out on the No New Clothes challenge - a 90-day commitment to abstain from buying new clothes. In this episode, I share my unexpected revelations, and the steps I took to get my family onboard with the challenge. Trust me, you'll want to hear about the hilarity that ensued during my kid's PJ emergency!

As an ambassador for Remake - a not-for-profit championing climate and wage justice in the fashion industry - I encourage you to try the No New Clothes challenges. This annual movement is a call to arms to change our relationship with what we wear.
 
Across the next five episodes, we'll delve into the origins and life stories of our garments. Whether you're itching to take up the challenge yourself, or simply wish to understand more about sustainable fashion, this episode takes you on a mindful journey into the world of clothes that might just change your shopping habits forever.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
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Caitlin Martella had never been a second hand shopper prior to starting her second hand business.  In fact, She had a lot of pre-conceptions about what thrifting meant and decided long ago that it was not for her.  Like me when I ran my store, she had never even heard of the circular economy and now…well, I’m going to let her describe how she ended up on this path.

So, who is Caitlin Martella and what is Curated Cubs?

In this episode we talk about the Circular Economy (click to get more info on what that looks like).

Curated Cubs donates their overstock to Jessie's Center, and you can too!
They also donate stained baby cashmere to Rapt and Held to be used as kids glove lining.  ADORBS!!!

Join us as we shine the spotlight on Caitlin Martella, a remarkable sustainable clothing entrepreneur.
If you are curious about shopping preloved for your kids visit Curated Cubs! Your participation can greatly reduce the amount of textile waste that will ultimately be passed on to our children!!
Together we can DEgrow that waste :)

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Medication and surgery works for all sorts of different diseases.
But they frequently do not work to cure chronic pain...and I know this very well because I have been living with chronic pain for well over a year and nothing doctors gave me worked.

So I have been on a pretty intense journey to heal myself and I've discovered a number of non-drug non-surgery ways to significantly reduce the amount of pain I feel in a given day.
They work for me. And from what I can tell, they work for hundreds of thousands of other people.
I am not 100% "cured", I still have bad days...but I have SIGNIFICANTLY reduced my reliance on pain medication.  And, most importantly I have discovered how to stay hopeful and happy despite the pain.  This is true for almost everyone who uses these tools.

If you or someone you care about suffers from chronic pain (migraines, back or leg pain, elbow or neck pain...ANY PAIN that's long term and wont go away) I strongly recommend you give these things a try.
 You dont have to believe they work.
You dont have to want to do them.
Just give them a try!

My five ideas to help ease your chronic pain:
1. Go to Curable Health and try it out for a month:  https://www.curablehealth.com/
2. Listen to some doctors explain the pain cycle...and how to break it:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tell-me-about-your-pain/id1503847664
3. Listen to some people who significantly reduced their pain which can give you the inspiration you need to believe you can get better: https://www.curablehealth.com/podcast?gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIveqXyarhgAMVw4VbCh0pjwUOEAAYASAAEgItQfD_BwE
4. Watch some videos on Cold Plunging with Wim Hof: https://www.facebook.com/reel/6995193690493339
5. Read a book on the science and  history of breathing by James Nestor: https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/

And a bonus: listen to my episode on how to gradually reduce your pain medication.
You can also follow me on instagram @whatsthisplacepodcast.

I would love to hear how the process was for you.  Email me at miranda@theodore1922.com.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
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Everyone thinks that December is peak  "fat pants" month.  But I'm going to suggest that March  could give December fat pants are run for their money.
In December you're still coasting on the last remains of summer energy:  going for walks or riding your bike to work. 
But then January. 
And God, February! 
The bike has been locked up for weeks.  Summer energy is a distant memory. 
And all that hibernation stuff that I talked about in the chat GPT episode, the slowed metabolism, the inward journey, the quiet season...it's really great for your mental wellbeing but it can take a toll on your waistline. By the end of March, the pinch of those pants, it is too much to bear. You need to let them out.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
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Every business creates waste but imagine turning that waste into a NEW business?

That's what Jesi Whelan did with her kids clothing company, Phoenix Pre-Worn.  The clothing that's too torn or stained to be sold gets used in her second business she started with Samantha Hulst from June Bird.
Together they teamed up to create a craft subscription box using textile waste from kids clothing called Canary Kids Club.
Jesi talks about the misconception she had about Big E Entrepreneurism...it's not all Elon Musk and Stock Options!...and how her perception shift made the leap to opening her own business less scary.
We talk about Ghost Energy on thrifted clothing...does it exist?!
What is this place?!
Let's go inside and find out.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
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A guided meditation on the feelings Valentine's Day can bring up.  Great for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the amount of STUFF in their homes.  

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Born during the darkest days of the pandemic, Clotheshorse The Podcast, took everyone behind the scenes of Fast Fashion...what REALLY goes on to make us soooo addicted we stop caring about the people who make the clothing.

Amanda McCarty, the creator of Clotheshorse has worked retail her whole life. She's worked on the floor, she's worked in the head offices, she's been a consumer like me. 

Amanda paves a path, both for people to get more conscious about their clothing consumption consumption, but also to get more conscious about working in retail. 

Retail and wholesale is the largest employment sector in both Canada and the US employing more people than agriculture or manufacturing or healthcare! It's huge. 

But as you might know, retail is under a huge transformation...some even call it The Retail Apocalypse!  By 2030, a mere 7 years from now, there will likely be 1 MILLION fewer jobs in retail than there are now.  In fact, Retail may lose it's crown as the largest employment sector.

So what to do?  How do we transition out of a retail culture into whatever is next (a warehouse culture?!)

I asked Amanda and she has some sage advice for people trying to transition out of retail.
So who is Amanda McCarty and what is Clotheshorse?
Let's go inside and find out.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
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I've been talking more and more about de-growth and I'm seeing more and more articles and media out there talking about de-growth.  It's becoming a bit of a buzzword but what does it really mean? 
I interviewed that new chat bot, the one that can create the written word from artificial intelligence.  It has creators and writers wondering if their jobs are about to be taken over by AI.  Did it write this podcast?  Who is CHAT GPT?!!?  Let's go inside and find out.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
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This episode, What's This Place? goes behind the bricks and mortar of New Circles, a multi dimensional, not-for-profit agency here in Toronto.
New Circles helps alleviate poverty through their free clothing bank GLOW (Gently Loved Outfits To Wear)...and if I am being honest, that's all I thought they did!

But once I went behind the bricks and mortar, I discovered that GLOW is a jumping off program for so much more...
They offer free employment skills training and newcomer settlement support  programs.
They benefit the environment by diverting 300,000 lbs of clothing from landfill every year.

I ask Cindy Blakely, the founder of New Circles, all my usual origin story questions...but the answers were not what I was expecting. 
Find out how one woman created a legacy that benefits tens of thousands of people every single year.

How did it all start?  And how has it survived the Covid Era?
Let's go inside and find out.

Enjoying the podcast? I am fiercely independent, and rely on listeners like you to help me stick around.
Can you share the episode on social media, or write a
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review in Apple podcasts?! I would be so grateful.