Exploring the intersection of nature, fashion, and sustainability with Jeff Garner, a visionary advocate for eco-friendly clothing. Join us as we delve into his journey from Tennessee farm life to sustainable fashion pioneer. Discover the beauty of plant-based dyes and natural materials in creating a conscious wardrobe.
Jeff Garner's upbringing on a Tennessee farm instilled in him a deep respect for the Earth's resources, shaping his belief in sustainability. Through using plant-based dyes and natural materials in his clothing creations, Garner champions a harmonious connection between people and the natural world, sparking a mindful way of living that puts environmental conservation first.
(00:03:20) Natural Living Through Sustainable Fashion
(00:13:37) Natural Fibers and Dyes in Fashion Industry
(00:15:10) Natural Materials for Eco-Friendly Fashion Choices
(00:19:36) Impact of Synthetic Fabrics on Lymphatic System
(00:26:03) Benefits of Wool and Hemp Clothing Sustainability
(00:31:17) Eco-Friendly Fashion: Plant-Based Designs and Materials
(00:35:21) Sustainable Fashion Options: Embracing Organic Materials
His award-winning documentary movie, "Let Them Be Naked," is now available for viewing around Mothers day as homage to his mom, before it comes out globally in September. Here you can sign up for the limited screening of his Documentary Film 'Let Them Be Naked'. https://www.letthembenaked.com
On Jeff's website you find all the information you desire: https://www.prophetik.com
Moving to oneness. Nourishing curiosity. Embracing differences. Becoming one.
00:00:40 - Meilin Ehlke
Nature is the most beautiful designer we have in this world. But today I have a special guest that will support you in looking at the design you can create in your life to uplift yourself and the life of your family. So do stay tuned to this wonderful, I think, and fascinating guest all the way from Tennessee.
Hello, everyone. I'm Meilin Ehlke. Welcome, welcome, welcome. And I have here with me a fantastic artist. And you all are very creative. And Jeff Garner, you are a movie director, you've created documentary movies. You see the beauty of the world and that's going to be my interest in hearing the most about this. And also, you love color. You see color different in the world, I think, than most people. You see all of the facets of the wider array and how colors can be created and you put that then into your fashion designs. So thank you. I'm very honored that you're bringing your amazing energy and your vision for us as human beings and for nature, the vision of our future to us. Thank you.
00:02:16 - Jeff Garner
Thank you for having me.
00:02:19 - Meilin Ehlke
Well, yes, I saw you along, no, not long, maybe half a year ago, already on Instagram for the first time. I didn't know you and about you, but what I noticed right away, you're a man in my eyes that walks his talk and talks his walk. That is very seldom to be found, I think. And you're a big inspiration for that. Share a little bit, because we're going to talk a little bit about the movie, the upcoming documentary, 'Let Them Be Naked' that's coming out in a few days. And everyone do go and look at it. You will learn so much and you will see your life a little different.
But how did you get to see the beauty of the world and how you can use nature's material to create clothing?
00:03:20 - Jeff Garner
Love that question and the focus. Yeah, I grew up and I'm currently at my farm in Tennessee. I grew up on a farm, always been on a farm. So early on I learned the pleasures and beauty of living in nature. I used to go out with my dog and I would go in the woods for two weeks and just kind of not survive, but live off the land as a young kid, 9, 10 years old, and you know, it was just a way of being. And then had horses I would travel out in the woods as well.
You kind of shed the, you know, modern day world when you do that and you learn different sensitivities. So, you know, my friends make fun of me, but I can sense Weather, and I can kind of predict it almost to a T. You know, there's certain patterns you see in insects and foliage and plants, and you just start tuning into the rhythms. And I've never ventured far from that. I've always, you know, people, again, make fun of me a lot.
I'll pop into New York City for like two days, and I would spend half the day walking Central park because I need that energy to offset the other energy. And I believe in that. I believe we're, you know, constant exposure causes acceptance. And I think we live in a society that doesn't do enough nature.
And so early on, yeah, when I started designing for bands and musicians out of Nashville because it's a hub and those were all my creative, artsy friends, I started learning that all these toxicities in the production. I was learning about plastisol inks, how they print their band T shirts and all that. I was like. I saw these young guys with mask around the dryers, and I saw them breaking out. And I heard. I smelled the smells, and it was like the Lorax. I could just smell the chemicals in the factory. And I said, this isn't healthy for us or the planet.
So I, early on, at the very beginning of my career, I said, well, I either got to learn how to do it differently or stop doing it. And then I learned about plant dyes, and I just kind of played and did chemistry. And my grandfather was an amazing chemist for the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. So he learned, you know, he taught me how to analyze things and how to dissect things and how to, you know, figure, make your own kind of ingredient list and. And, you know, recipes, let's call it. So, yeah, so that's what led me down the path.
00:06:06 - Meilin Ehlke
Wow. Yeah, I can see you a little bit, just wandering in the woods and learning about it. Really, you said the rhythm. It's for me, it's like you're in a song. You can hear the song of. of. of nature. Right. Because you also felt comfortable.
Do plants show themselves also to you and say, try me for a dye?
00:06:32 - Jeff Garner
Yeah, I mean, that's the curiosity, you know, I love using barks. The tannins are so rich. So, like, for example, I have 44 acres in most of its woodland. So if a tree falls, I want to use all aspects of it. So obviously the nature comes and grabs it and puts it back into the ground. And, you know, ants and animals habitat, it and there's all that. But I take the bark and I'll test it with the dyes and figure out what tannins are in it because it spent all these years collecting. And the beauty of plant dyes, I try to tell everyone, is the luminosity.
00:07:11 - Meilin Ehlke
Yes.
00:07:12 - Jeff Garner
So obviously everyone knows about chlorophyll and, you know, and think about all those years of just the sun and the energy in the collection. So the luminosity reads differently like on film or on a photo shoot. And the models get it when they wear the cloths. Just feels different. It looks different to the eye. And to me, I think that's a lost art form. So that's why they enjoy doing it, you know, to get these. These colors like I'm wearing now out of plants. It's just amazing.
00:07:43 - Meilin Ehlke
And yeah, it's like a collaboration. And it's a vibrancy. A vibrancy, I would say that's like a tingle within you. And it's also medicine. It's medicine for us because we go in relate with a plant and they provide comfort or information or even nutrition to us, which artificial materials cannot do. I think, or I should say, I have not experienced that.
I understand you a little bit, Jeff, because through a big fire, where all my artwork was destroyed. Few years later, then after I was divested, I started painting again. And I only could start painting with plant pigments and watercolor.
00:08:41 - Jeff Garner
Ah, yeah. Yeah.
00:08:43 - Meilin Ehlke
Before I had created big collages of first acrylic, then torn handmade paper, and then oil and other materials on it. And exactly. That I wrote about recently. It is this vibrancy. You go in the communication, you go into the water. They give you creativity. They make me feel good. It smells different. There is a smell. It's like a perfume. Not perfume. Yeah. It's enlivening.
00:09:06 - Jeff Garner
Hm, hm.
00:09:07 - Meilin Ehlke
And I think with clothes, what you're talking about is the same. I did do some research. I looked what is in our area, and there was a woman now in Bavaria, south of me. She started looking around 50 different plants she started using that she found around her lake, even using the. Oh, the Schilf that grows in the water. The seeds out of it. And so many beautiful greens and so many varieties. I don't know. She had 20 different greens. She put, used different cloth material. You do work, I think, a lot with hemp. She did a lot of different natural fabrics in there, and each fabric turned out in a different color.
And I thought that is so beautiful. And it all touched the heart. And I also think your art the film, but also your clothes, even your film is really important and maybe not an easy topic to look at though, or put your attention on. But for, for when you. I look at your fashion and the medicine because it's our natural fiber and it speaks with the models and where you place it in what kind of settings you juxtapose it in, it gives this graciousness back to the women I have seen wear them. There is a lightness that you, I think your clothes give these women and men.
00:10:53 - Jeff Garner
Yeah. Yeah, I think, I mean, obviously when you break it down, the toxins that are in the synthetic dyes or are just, they're designed in a laboratory and unfortunately the ingredients of those are designed to kill. And plants or, you know, bring life, as you say. And yeah, I believe the body. You know, obviously we talk about in the film and in the book. There's been this undisclosed concept that what we put on our skin because we were designed to be nude, and hence the title of the book, Let Them Be Naked. It's Better to be New than dress.
00:11:36 - Meilin Ehlke
I love it.
00:11:38 - Jeff Garner
So funny. My producer's like, that's a working title, right? Like, no, that's the title. But I wanted to get that idea across because everything we put on our skin has. There's an absorbency through the epidermis of the skin. And from all the peer reviewed studies, it averages about 37%.
So if you put, if you put paint on your arm, whatever's in that paint will go into your skin through the hair follicles and your bloodstream. Same with clothing. But there's a misconception that clothing, whatever the chemicals that are on the clothing, just stay in the clothing. And we know for a fact that's not true because you can just easily test your laundry water and you can discover the chemicals that come off of it. And then there's this rumor that was circulated through the industry saying that, oh, you just take your new clothing home and you wash it once or twice and that washes out those... They call them the, the manufacturing chemicals. And like, no, it does shed. But those chemicals are designed to stay in the product, keep that color in the product, otherwise that color would, would run out.
00:12:51 - Jeff Garner
So that's what we're doing with the film. The book is getting people to understand here's synthetic made, you know, laboratory, you know, fabrication and dyes. And it's good for convenience. It keeps your price point down, but to a untrue cost because it's, it's not feasible to produce in that, that capacity anymore. I mean, you're paying $7 for a T shirt that you paid for in the 70s. But fuel, petrol, you know, food, hotels, coffee, everything's gone up in price except Clothing. So we have to correct that. We need to bring the pricing of clothing up so that we can now make clothing out of natural materials and dyes and give that option. So people, when they see a hemp t shirt for $45, they're not thinking they're getting raw because that is a true cost of that fabric that's being made. And that dye, it's been handmade. So, you know, it's something I have to kind of mention every time because they think that if, you know, we move plant based dyes and fabrics forward in production, that they're not going to be able to afford clothing. And I, you know, it's a more conscious decision. So you buy pieces that will last in your wardrobe.
I still wear riding pants of twelve years ago, I ride horses, I have horses, every day and I work in them. I'm on my tractor. Like I use, I travel in them. Not one whole for 12 years and they're made of hemp. I can't say that about any, you know, and I haven't bought clothing in years. But the tensile strength of hemp is amazing. So, you know, they call it biomimicry. So everything that was produced in laboratories, so like nylon is a mimic of silk, you know, polyester is a mimic of hemp. So I think the using the natural form is a lot better. You know, and a lot of times people don't understand. These companies just want to own the product. They want to mix polyester with an additive of some oil that keeps it from being moldy, and then they call it a name and then that becomes a new fabric that they own and can sell and make all that money from.
00:15:10 - Jeff Garner
So it's a vicious circle of, you know, this chemical industry in the industry, in the fashion industry to keep that thing going forward. And if we could grow our own plants and make our own fabric and make our own dyes, well, it keeps us off the codependent wagon and it would obviously upset some of those, some of that money that's going in.
But I think, you know, they did a study and we have enough clothing produced right now in the world to clothe us for another 50 years, every human.
00:15:45 - Meilin Ehlke
Surplus.
00:15:46 - Jeff Garner
So we don't need to make more. We need to, you know, slow everything down and make smarter clothing and you know, and so that's, that's where we are.
00:15:58 - Meilin Ehlke
I'm happy to hear that. I spoke also with my son's generation. They at least they don't buy so often clothes anymore. Or at least they repurpose it and make a different cut out of it. I forgot the name, what it's called. They look for organic more especially underwear. I know you create underwear. It's so important because it touches us.
Also as we are here more in a spiritual community or I would say there's so many people that maybe don't know that they're so spiritual, but they're very sensitive and they don't know then why they're getting sick. Clothing scratches on their body. They feel out of place because they can't talk about it. Because clothing should be soft and what. Right. They feel displaced. And that would be a solution for many, many. So even I, can't. It has to be soft. I love natural products. It has to because it's our second skin.
The world wants to be unique. Jeff. Right. Everyone said, oh, I want to, yeah, but we have to start maybe in creating our own color for a certain shirt. Or maybe going back like my mother's generation when she was younger, they were still sewing their clothes. Who still knows how to sew. We're losing the crafts.
00:17:29 - Jeff Garner
Yes.
00:17:30 - Meilin Ehlke
I have to tell you another story. I saw that a few years ago. Because you're a surfer, you will love this. There's a French surfer, Vincent Lartizien, I think, and he decided to create hemp again and get hemp seed peeling machines from India. The first one he had to get there and started a way to create surfing clothing organically out of a hemp. But then also he said, "I wanted to grow it here". So he talked with farmers and they tried it out. An acre here, an acre there. And because they were also noticing the climate is changing. Hemp is helping the sustainability. When they have corn for fuel or other things, feeding the pigs, it needs so much water. And hemp does not need water to grow. And so he created change. It's an education. And the interesting part then also that came out, that area in France was very well known for fabric how to creating beauty. And I think that's where we are bringing back the beauty in everything, in an impeccable act in whatever we do. And there were no women anymore who knew how really to sew and do all of these arts and crafts. So but they started back at teaching or doing also organic coloring, but then they said the same as you. They can do 70 kilos a day with organic coloring and dyes and it gets more expensive. But I think we have a chance. Because if they look at the big picture, everyone and everyone wants change. It may happen. So why is it so dangerous? Tell a little bit more about the danger too.
00:19:32 - Jeff Garner
To wearing it?
00:19:35 - Meilin Ehlke
In a way.
00:19:36 - Jeff Garner
Yeah. So I'll just sum it up so there's, you know, it's a concoction of obviously cheap ingredients to make it so, so cheap and affordable and also performance wise. So you know, you have formaldehyde in those dyes that help set it. You have heavy metals as well to help set it. You know, the fabrications themselves are very, you know, polyester obviously is, is as people are saying now on the Internet, I love it. You're wearing plastic, but it's non permeable in nature. So that obviously doesn't allow anything to pass. So your body's lymphatic system, for example, think about a nylon, a polyester bra, it's not going to allow any breathability. So your body's designed, lymphatic system is designed to move out the toxins. So when you have a 37% absorption rate going into your breast, your body receives it like an estrogen. It sees it as an alien. It grabs it, sticks it in the fatty tissues to store it so it doesn't go throughout your body. Okay, so but the lymphatic system is supposed to come through and clean that out. When it's constricted by straps of a bra or the pressure of a bra, it's like a little tiny hose. Any type of pressure collapses it so it doesn't flow. And then it's not like your, your circulatory system of your blood vessels with a heart that pumps the blood. There's no pump mechanism, so therefore it operates by movement only. So like that, that watch that, that, you know, gets wound up by movement. That's kind of how you're, it works. So without the movement of the breast, it's not allowing that action to take place.
So, you know, that's one example of an issue we have with the design of the clothing and what's in it. So it's basically acts like a greenhouse for breast cancer because you can't move out those toxins. Your body receives it as an estrogen. That's why now they're saying breast cancer is estrogen related. So your cells start mutating and then there's nothing, you know, then it doesn't attack them in time, and then they start escalating. And it, you know, so it depends. Obviously, there's so many variables involved, and it depends on your DNA structure and, you know, you as a healthy person. So not everyone will get it. But, you know, we're seeing the numbers rise and rise and rise because women since World2 have been wearing bras more, and even they wear them to bed, and your body gets no break. So imagine, you know, every. I'll show you guys this.
00:22:20 - Meilin Ehlke
Yes, please.
00:22:21 - Jeff Garner
I just did socks because I couldn't find one pair of socks in the world that did not have nylon in it. Because every single industry standard is. Even if it's organic and natural sock, they thread it with the 10% nylon. So they have a small thread of nylon, and they wrap the natural around it. So I finally did my own socks here.
00:22:44 - Meilin Ehlke
Oh, wonderful. Thank you.
00:22:46 - Jeff Garner
This is how 75 alpaca and 25 wool. There's no nylon in this. And I, you know, knitted in a way that it naturally stretches there by the weave. And I've been testing them, and they don't hold smells. They stay up, they hold body temperature, they don't sweat. So it's these type of things that we need to solve, and we can solve it. And literally, my friends, alpaca farm, we take it, we walk it across the street, and we knit it, and it's that.
00:23:21 - Meilin Ehlke
That region. Yeah, close.
00:23:25 - Jeff Garner
And. And so that's a perfect example of it can be done. And obviously, we did, like, 300 units, and we're gonna make more, but depends on the alpaca. But we can get other alpaca farmers there. You grow it based on the need. But again, it's two part. We need to slow down the consumption. So you. If you bought socks, you don't need 10 of these. You need three of them. You know, same with my hemp boxers. I tell my guy friends, you only need three. Throw all, you know, recycle all your other ones. You only need. They're like, Jeff, are you sure? I. I want to change a boxer a day? I'm like, no, you can wear one boxer for weeks straight because it breathes, doesn't hold, smells. It is as antifungal, antibacterial naturally. There's nothing clogging the pores. And once you go back to natural, you understand how they behave and work. It's going to obviously keep you from buying too much. You don't have to wash it every time.
So part of the industry, part of the fashion industry, people aren't looking at is the number one. They say it's like number two, as far as being, you know, polluted to the world. It's because of the washing. You wear a synthetic yoga pant to work out in. You take it home, throw in the laundry, you wash it immediately. So you're constantly washing and, you know, with natural fibers. And you can do. I tell everyone, we'll do a smell test, have your partner smell your boxers, smell your socks, and they all come back and say, you're right. So, you know, if you think about back in the day, we only had one or two outfits. You know, they had those small little trunks they traveled with. Most people just had an undershirt. They changed out and they wore the top layers. They had the same socks, same underwear made of wool, typically. So we know, you know, obviously. Well, they're like, what smelled more back then? But, you know, I don't know. I've never worn deodorant. Nobody told me.
00:25:13 - Meilin Ehlke
No, no. It's also how you eat. It is all these things
00:25:17 - Jeff Garner
It is all those combinations.
00:25:18 - Meilin Ehlke
It's a big circle, how it comes together.
00:25:20 - Jeff Garner
Yeah.
00:25:21 - Meilin Ehlke
It's already known. It also makes you happier.
00:25:28 Jeff Garner
Yeah.
00:25:29 - Meilin Ehlke
They did 100 years ago or longer. They did tests of how people react to what they wear and if it's breathable. So here in the mountains, you know, we have more cold weather. Wool is very important. If it's now from sheep or alpaca, because it can get wet, especially everyone, for your children, then they don't get cold feet, and they can go and run in the snow. It doesn't matter. It's important. And I think people. We don't know about it. We don't read about it.
00:26:03 - Jeff Garner
We don't know. I mean, unless you're in my field, you don't know the behaviors of fabric. And to be honest, even the young designers, they're not being taught how fibers behave, you know. But for example, in the film, we cover wool in New Zealand and everything.
But one of the things we didn't show in the film, which is in an outtake, there's a brand called Icebreaker. And the creative director and I, he was in his wool boxers. I was in my hemp boxers. We both jump in Switzerland, we jump into the river there. It's freezing cold, December, and we get out and we do... We have a thermal camera, and we do the air temp, and then we do his boxers, my boxers. His boxers hold the temperature, and it's because it's wool. My boxers drop a little bit. And then we had a polyester boxer that just went, you know, negative. Right. So it's interesting to show wool does really hold its consistent temperature even wet. But yeah, people understand that. They, you know, it be. Yeah, they would see it, see it differently.
00:27:07 - Meilin Ehlke
Yeah. And I don't know, I have not seen your film, I just saw the trailer. But it also shows how it pollutes our earth. It pollutes our waters. And I'm talking about rivers and in big amounts. It's not just like a trickle because the industry nowadays has big buckets,
00:27:27 - Jeff Garner
Oh, yeah.
00:27:28 - Meilin Ehlke
whatever. You know, it's not like a little bakery or a little.
00:27:32 - Jeff Garner
Yeah.
00:27:36 - Meilin Ehlke
Färberei. A dyeing. A dye company, right. Where you have a little bit. It's now in big. So it kills off a whole river or the creeks, it goes into the ocean and that is also a big pollutant. And the less we can buy these things, the better and really start. You have the power. That's why I want to get to. People have the power. We have buying power. It's slow, but it gets a momentum. We choose.
00:28:11 - Jeff Garner
Yeah, it's intensive. And that's why I focus the film and the book about us. You know, our human body, we get. We have one body in this lifetime. And, and if they understand, people understand what they put on their bodies goes into their bodies and affects their own personal health, you know, then the afterthought is the manufacturing industry. This we've heard about, everyone's heard about how, how, how that drives pollution in the Pearl river in China and all that stuff. And the dyes are awful, super intensive, you know.
A great test at home, which I don't advise everyone to do. But if you're questioning it, if you ever are painting, have a painting project, take your brush and put it in an outside like, you know, water pail and just see one little trickle of that paint, how quickly it spreads to that water and it doesn't wash away, it doesn't go away. And that is a small minute mount of the dye water that's being dumped.
And I can describe it like this. When you dyes dye with plants, you have a vat, you kind of. You have your recipe, you start it, you dip product in, you pull it out, it extracts some of the dyes. So you as a creator and a scientist, etcetera, you have to like recharge your diabat, but you never dump it, you just recharge it with that dye, whether you're using marigold flowers or barks. And then you can keep dyeing.
And in the synthetic industry, what they do, they dump the dye and Then they redo the new recipe and then they dump it. Redo, dump. They don't want to take the time or effort to with the science to figure out how to recharge that dye vat. So they want the perfect proportions for the perfect color for the perfect. And so we got to move away from that because that's obviously that's illegal in a lot of countries, but not all. And so that's what we're dealing with when you hear about the cheap manufacturing overseas is because they're allowed legally, there's no constraints for them to dump that dye out. And that's obviously if you're connected as most. We have one ocean, not multiple oceans. It is all connected.
00:30:19 - Meilin Ehlke
It's all part of everything that exists. It's our food. It comes from all around the world and we put it also then in our mouth and our animals get sick and we eat. If you do eat animals, they get sick, but I don't even want a bird to get sick. That we have this harmony and love for each other, for ourselves. And I think that happens too.
And back to your clothes before you share how people can watch your movie and get to see it and educate themselves and get a better understanding of how the industry works and how they can better the way they close themselves or even maybe try out themselves and play with their children and dye a few clothes as well.
00:31:17 - Jeff Garner
I think, you know, that's a beautiful journey. I used to have a kids collection I sold in Nordstrom's and I encourage, you know, at that time you buy something new, give something old away. And now I'm encouraging to, yeah, go try and play with dyes. But I think what you look for as a mom and you know, as a buyer, you look for natural fibers, so flax, linen, hemp, organic cotton, there's even some seaweed, you know, fabric being made. I'm not a fan of bamboo because of the kind of toxicity to make it into a fabric. So look for that undyed because right now on a commercial level, nobody, even if they're saying water based dyes or natural dyes, it's typically still, you know, has a lot of toxicity to it. It just may, it may have less of something, usually less metals. And then you can diet yourself, you know. And I, you know, I think it's a beautiful thing with, especially with kids, you get it dirty and like, okay, I'm just going to go dye it.
00:32:20 - Meilin Ehlke
Yeah.
00:32:20 - Jeff Garner
You know. And so as two lives in it, I used to do reversible dresses for my daughter, because she would get so dirty. And then when she got a teenager, I thought, oh,' I'll make her first hemp bra'. And that wasn't cool. But apparently it's not cool for, for single dads to make their daughters bras. But it was, you know, once they learn, the kids learn what this fabric feels like on the body. That's why I was doing it. They will never put polyester on their body because it'll itch, it'll be dry.
You know, I've never had flaky white skin because I don't wear those chemicals on my skin. You know, I don't really have to use moisturizer because of that. I mean it's, I'm like a prime example of what it could be like because I just haven't touched it or worn it in 20 plus years. The only time I touch it sometimes if I have to stay at a hotel, which I try to check, but a lot of hotels bleach out their sheets, and use polyester, which is another thing I would advise everyone to do immediately is change your detergents. 7th generation is a good alternative. They're in pretty much around the world in a lot of stores. And then the sheeting, the sheeting is important. What you sleep in every night, six to eight hours. When you're off gassing those toxins, you can't wrap yourself up because again, it acts like that bra would. It's non permeable. It would keep the toxins in, add more into your skin so you want to breathe at night, you know, so sleep nude and sleep in natural sheets.
That's another easy thing to do because there's enough companies out there starting to do it.
And we're actually, I'm teaming up with Aziome, A Z I O M E and they're actually a German company and the guy's super passionate. He started in the health industry but he came to me because he couldn't figure out certain dynamics in the industry because they were still doing additives to the organic cotton that he was purchasing. And I tested and he didn't know because the industry adds the additive even to natural fibers to keep it from mildewing, getting stains, et cetera. So, now I'm helping him and it should, I think it's out this week, but we're using hemp now and other fibers without the additives with my dyes. And so that's going to be a really pure, clean alternative.
But look for undyed sheets and make sure you check with them that they don't do an additive, you know. If you look at it, it's like it looks like an oil slick. Natural fibers shouldn't have any shine or all this slick to it. It should be very. Just raw filling and looking. And that's how you can kind of tell because a lot of these companies don't disclose it or they don't know. In his case, he didn't know he was buying from a textiler and they didn't tell him. Yeah. So anyways, a little bit of research for. For all the moms. But I think, you know, there are. There's enough out there to. To be able to replace some things at this point. really have to look.
00:35:21 - Meilin Ehlke
you really have to look. I mean luckily we're in Germany. You can find places. But it's hard for to find or let's say organic clothing. You can start on the Internet more and more. But it's important that you can try it on. And washing material is important. We have a lot also many organic cleaning detergents. And I also urge everyone just clean ...
00:35:40 - Jeff Garner
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:35:42 - Meilin Ehlke
with organic material. We have a lot on the Internet. I can see there's a push in that direction. So that's fascinating. And the stores more and more are bring it into stock.
00:35:54 - Jeff Garner
Yeah, they will. They will. Yeah. Part before the horse. You have to create the demand. And then you. know.
00:36:02 - Meilin Ehlke
And it's doable. If I just look about at the organic food. It started really, really slow, but now even other stores don't want to lose the customers to the organic food chains. So they start really bringing in here and there more. I wish one day there will be more. And it will. I'm a positive person, Jeff, because people like you, people like me and there are many others that I've looked around. They want to start again the crafts. They know this way doesn't lead anywhere. I'm going to say it goes to. They feel isolated from the world even as you know in ones clothes. And everyone is searching to feel comfortable.
00:36:50 - Jeff Garner
Yes.
00:36:51 - Meilin Ehlke
And I think that is the most important, if you can get that over or we to get to create that people will feel comfortable. They feel comfortable in what they put on.
And about the naked. I remember the healers in India always also were walked around naked. Because they have nothing to hide. And I think we have to go also that direction so we can feel not self but that you feel whole again.
00:37:22 - Jeff Garner
Yes.
00:37:23 - Meilin Ehlke
It is important that we don't feel ashamed about who we are.
00:37:25 - Jeff Garner
True.
00:37:26 - Meilin Ehlke
And that is all goes with it. And these clothes will support this, I believe especially your clothes.
00:37:32 - Jeff Garner
So where stripping down, stripping down back to where we began, you know?
00:37:37 - Meilin Ehlke
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So where can people find your movie that starts for Mother Day or a few days even earlier?
00:37:47 - Jeff Garner
Yeah. So what we're doing. So, I lost my mom to breast cancer, which kind of drove me to do this film because I was like, I know too much. I don't want any other mothers to suffer first. So, you know, despite all my advice from everyone else involved, I said, no, I'm going to gift it to moms. So starting on Thursday, four days, you know, Mother's. This American Mother's Day weekend. This weekend.
00:38:13 - Meilin Ehlke
It's here also Mother's Day.
00:38:15 - Jeff Garner
Okay, great. So the 8th through I think the 12th. Where all they have to do is sign up their email. They can stream it for free before we... It's planning to go to a distributor in September, so it'll be everywhere then. But I just couldn't wait. I think every day counts.
00:38:33 - Meilin Ehlke
Yes Thank you.
00:38:34 - Jeff Garner
And, yeah, so that's my heart in it. And everyone's, you know, everyone in the industry's like, don't do it. I'm like, I'm doing it.
00:38:40 - Meilin Ehlke
You know, we have to go our own way. And you're doing that, and otherwise there is no change.
00:38:45 - Jeff Garner
Exactly. So I'm hoping everyone gets fired up and inspired and then when it releases in September, we can have a big community around it to drive the change and create policy changes, which we've already. We're already seeing. So, you know, I don't want this to be a wave that. That just fizzles out after one. One wave. We need consistency, and the industry will know it can't wiggle around it anymore. It's got to. Got to convert. So, yeah.
00:39:13 - Meilin Ehlke
I believe it will change. There is a movement of we cannot put anything under the rug anymore around the world and more and more. And clothing is what we wear every single day and at night. And it's the biggest thing where we have impact for ourselves.
00:39:36 - Jeff Garner
Exactly.
00:39:37 - Meilin Ehlke
For our family and for the world.
00:39:40 - Jeff Garner
Yeah.
00:39:41 - Meilin Ehlke
So that's why I love that. And you, you have this finesse about your clothes that you create as an example for others to copy and feel inspired. So thank you for doing that for us and for your time. Thank you. I know it's busy because it's just shortly before the launch of your documentary, which already won many, many, everyone, many awards. I think 15. A few even here, also in Germany and France and many countries.
00:40:19 - Jeff Garner
Yes.
00:41:20 - Meilin Ehlke
So keep your eyes open. Take the time to watch it now, and if not, go and watch it in September when it comes out.
So thank you, Jeff, for being here to share your beautiful energy. I mean, everyone is just going to soak up your energy...
00:40:37 - Jeff Garner
Thank You.
00:40:39 - Meilin Ehlke
... and for believing in yourself and to walk and create what you think is right. And that needs to be our everyday life so we can be who we are, all of us. Thank you very much, Jeff.
00:40:51 - Jeff Garner
Amazing. Thank you.
00:40:53 - Meilin Ehlke
And everyone, bye, bye. I'm Meilin. And take care of yourself. Play around. Use the dye. You can use your fruits and just maybe also paint on it. You know, I love to paint and go into the garden and see what creates color when you cook it. Explore. There are so many plants and flowers, flowers that bring color to your beautiful pieces that you are wearing. Goodbye, everyone. I'm Meilin of the Moving To Oneness podcast.