We got a nice chuckle out of last week’s The New Yorker cover by artist Marcellus Hall depicting the much-anticipated (and much-hyped) launch of New York City’s new bike sharing program, Citibike. Even though it joins hundreds of bike-sharing programs already in existence, you’d think the media darling was the first of its kind.

But take one glance at this Bike Sharing World Map created by The Bike Sharing Blog and Metro Bike and you’ll see that NYC is but a spoke in the wheel of the burgeoning bike share movement. It’s a movement that began in Amsterdam nearly 50 years ago with Witte Fiestsen (or White Bikes) and was followed by other European cities including Copenhagen, Denmark; Portsmouth, England; and Lyon, France. But it wasn’t until the mid-2000’s that the rest of Europe and the world began to catch up. Cyclocity, which launched in 2003, now operates in 10 countries, 66 cities, and recently logged its 300,000,000^th rider. Paris, which claims title to the largest bike sharing program in the world, Velib, keeps a fleet of 20,000 velos operating around the city daily.

Of course, there are the obvious benefits of bike sharing programs; they replace cars, therefore relieving road congestion. In Paris, Velib reduced Paris traffic by 5% in the first year. They help you stay fit and healthy and decrease obesity. They cost less for the cyclist than operating a car (and may even make money for the city). And our favorite—it’s better for the environment. To give you an idea of just how much better: in a review of the CycloCity system, Bourcier.com estimates that the 46,536 bicycles used in its world fleet alleviates 33,899 metric tons of CO2 each year. That’s equivalent to eliminating roughly 6600 cars every year.

What does this mean for NYC—the new home to the nation’s largest bike share program? In less than 48 hours after its inaugural pedal, cyclists had traveled 32,625 miles during nearly 13,000 trips. That’s equivalent to eliminating about 13.8 metric tons of C02 in just two days. So despite all of the hoopla and headlines, if you ask us, CitiBike seems to be living up to the hype.

Share where your bike takes you on Instagram for the chance to win the ultimate commuter kit— a Tern Joe C21 foldable cruiser and $250 of Nau apparel. To enter, hit the road and tag your Instagram photos—from urban landscapes to alpine vistas – with #MyBikeTakesMe. Don’t forget to include @NauClothing and @PFBcrews so we can check out where you go.

The contest ends May 29. Winner will be announced May 31st. Winner must choose product by June 30th. Full rules here.

Caleb Bushner (Nau Facebook Fan): #MyBikeTakesMe to Bernal Heights Park at sunset.

Bry Woll – Nau Dealer Services: With all this sun, #MyBikeTakesMe to work on my morning commute.

Nau Partner for Change – People for Bikes: #MyBikeTakesMe up dirt roads to peek at snow-covered mountaintops.

Lindsey Morse – Nau Marketing: In the city of bridges, #MyBikeTakesMe across the Willamette giving a nod from one bridge to another.

Josie Norris – Nau e-commerce: #MyBikeTakesMe 4.5 miles down a trail and makes me learn a lesson about being prepared.

Photo: Lavish Livez Instagram

To commemorate bike month, we took a small group of friends on a curated bike tour from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Each stop along the way brought to life our unique perspective on sustainability, craftsmanship and the modern, mobile lifestyle. Here’s a quick glimpse into our pedal-perfect day.

Getting Oufitted
We started at HUB in the West Village where we were each fit with our custom Dutch-inspired Brooklyn Cruisers. While the week’s sunny weather had taken a turn, it only added to the spirit of the tour. Most of us simply put on an extra layer with a Dose Jacket or Motil Trench, and we were on our way.

STOP 1: TEXTILE ARTS CENTER
While most of the indigo used today is synthetic, we sought out its natural alternative. It’s a highly complex process. But in short, chemicals are released during the fermentation of certain plant species, and when oxidized, turns a brilliant blue. Check out some of our indigo creations.

Creating crazy patterns
Photo: Lavish Livez

From Manhattan to Brooklyn via the Williamsburg Bridge

Bridge Crossing
Photo: Lavish Livez Instagram

STOP 2: BROOKLYN DENIM CO.
Crossing the Williamsburg bridge into Brooklyn, we visited the Brooklyn Denim Co. where owner, Frank Pizzurro, gave us a special behind-the-scenes look at the workroom where each piece of denim is cut, sewn and formed into high-end fashion.

Photo: Lavish Livez Instagram

STOP 3: HOME OF SUMMER RAYNE OAKES
Time to relax. Next we arrived at to the urban garden and home of eco-activist and model, Summer Rayne Oakes. Summer has turned her Williamsburg home into a zen-like escape with over 220 plants and a living wall. We all had some homemade tea and heard from Caroline Samponaro from Transportation Alternatives who talked about the growth and importance of urban cycling and the recent launch of the highly anticipated Citi Bike Share program.

STOP 4: TØRST
We concluded the day with happy hour and charcuterie at tørst, an international beer destination from acclaimed chefs Daniel Berns and Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso. The group was able to relax, enjoy conversation and reflect on the day’s events.

The day inspired us all to think about how easy it is to integrate biking into our everyday lives, even in one of the busiest cities in the world. Here’s a little extra inspiration to get you out and cycling in style this Bike Month.

Check out our take on bikes and cycling on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/nauclothing/on-two-wheels/

Here’s a sobering stat: 80,000 chemicals are currently used around the world today. Most of these chemicals are untested and a surprising portion are used to make your clothes. From dying and finishing to spinning, ginning and even laundering, chemicals are used in every step of the textile process making even natural fibers unsustainable. But the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA)—along with Jamie Bainbridge, our Director of Textile Development and Sustainability—is spearheading an initiative that hopes to change all of that. How? By adopting a mission of continuous improvement and establishing a carefully cultivated list of preferred chemicals. Sounds simple, sure. But first the OIA has to convince an entire disparate and often complex global manufacturing industry that sustainable chemistry is good for business.

THE BLUE SHIRT CONUNDRUM
Let’s back up a minute. Before an industry can change, we need to know where the current process fails. Take the lifecycle of a simple, blue organic cotton T-shirt. Let’s assume the tee is made from GOTS-certified organically grown cotton which currently sets the strictest standards for the chemical processing of organic cotton. So we’ve eliminated the use of pesticides and fertilizers up front. However, up to five separate chemicals are added at each subsequent stage thereafter. Spinning lubricants are added during cleaning and ginning which allow the raw cotton fibers to be spun into yarn. Lubricant compounds are then added during knitting to allow the fiber to easily pass through machinery. Mordants and salts are added during dying to affix the color to the fabric. This is the most toxic and chemical-consuming phase where OIA is focusing its initial sustainability efforts. Even natural dyes require heavy use of mordants, salts and water in order for the dye to be effective. In the finishing process, chemicals like silicones and formaldehyde are added to impart the desired hand of the fabric. Finally, consumers add their own mix of bleaches, detergents, softeners, and starches to mold and shape the tee into the perfect blue shirt.

This is where things start to get increasingly complex. Each one of the 5000 chemical compounds used in textile production are considered proprietary which means no one— not the OIA, not the EPA, not even the apparel industry—knows what chemicals are used to make a simple blue t-shirt. Jamie, our textile maven, likens it to the manufacturer’s secret sauce that is highly guarded due to its perceived competitive advantage. With such a massive barrier to sustainable business, the only way the apparel industry has been able to dictate which chemicals are used in their products is through a Restricted Substance List (RSL) (you can view Nau’s RSL here). But with 80,000 chemicals on the market, most of which remain untested, an RSL falls short of being a sustainable solution. But it’s all we have—until now.

WHAT’S NEXT
The Chemicals Management Working Group, a strategic subgroup of OIA dedicated to sustainable chemistry, is working with big and small retailers and their manufacturers to bring transparency to each stage in the textile process. Using the EPA’s twelve principles of green chemistry as a foundation, they’re building a Preferred Substance List (PSL) that would offer sustainable substitutions for unsafe and untested chemicals. For example, a PSL would provide safe alternatives to formaldehyde, a ubiquitous, toxic chemical currently used to create wrinkle-free fabrics.

In addition, the industry is perfecting the use of low-impact or high-exhaustion dyes which require less water and less dyestuff during one of the most polluting textile processes. With less water being used in the process, more money is being saved by the manufactures which is a tremendous incentive for change. Once the manufacturing industry realizes that sustainable business is good for business then we’ll have a sustainable solution. But until then, the OIA and Nau won’t stop until we find one.

Alvord Desert Hot Springs

Last Friday, around 2pm, Mark, our GM disappeared. It was shortly after consuming a pomegranite margarita (no salt) and a taco platter. Of course, this is not unusual. Mark has been known to mysteriously vanish only to suddenly reappear days later with a grin and a suntan. This time, he resurfaced on a Monday morning smelling of sulpher and parched earth, surely evidence of a desert escapade. But he was gracious enough to write us a virtual postcard so we wouldn’t have to rely on an Edward Abbey quote to complement these few captured moments. 

The desert is a diaspora for the displaced, a refuge from our hyper-saturated social scene, attracting the margins of society— mystics and malcontents, desperadoes and drug runners, rednecks and ranchers, artists and anarchists.

It’s an environment that expands our visual and perceptual horizons. —Mark

We figured we would spread the love and share our favorite Instagrammers. From urban ballerinas to traveling musicians, we are thoroughly entertained and often obsessed with checking our phones.

OUR FAVES:
@ben_moon – Ben is a photographer based here Portland who has helped us on numerous shoots, including  some of our Spring 13 location photography. His adventurous spirit shines through in the photos of all the places his work takes him.

@bowen_ames -  Bowen has moonlighted as a freelance art director on some of our shoots and even transformed our own instagram with his amazing eye. Bowen’s personal instagram is worthy of a coffee-table book; just take a look into his world of weekend escapades and beautiful colors.

@edroste – As a member of one of our favorite bands, Grizzly Bear, Ed shares photos from the bands travels around the world. Forget green rooms and late night parties, he captures picturesque shots of Portugal countryside and snorkeling in Burma.

@Chrisburkard –Chris is a staff photographer for Surfer magazine. He has an eye for the behind-the-scene life of a professional surfer or an astonishing coastal shot that will make you jealous of his daily life.

@Architizer –  For those inspired by design, the description says it all: “amazing architecture, served daily.” From modernist high-rises to mosques in Abu-Dhabi, these buildings aren’t seen in your daily cityscapes.

@NYtimesFashion – Sometimes we just need our fix of Balenciaga’s newest collection, or to laugh at the return of platform shoes.  NY Times fashion gives us all of our guilty pleasures, and a little inspiration.

@balletzaida – Ballet Zaida is an ongoing art project showcasing ballerinas performing in environments other than the stage. Photographed by Oliver Endahl, these photos expose the world to ballet and try to evolve the art of ballet itself.

@Heartroasters – Heart takes the win for both our favorite cup of coffee, and roaster with an instagram account. Based in our hometown of Portland, the camera of Heart roasters goes behind the scenes to the fields where the coffee grows, all the way to the roaster here in Portland.

@thecolorbrown – As our guest Instagrammer for the month of February– we have to feature our friend Carson Brown. Haling from Grand Rapids, his photos take an unordinary look at everyday life. Each photo makes us pause and look a little closer.

(Nested) Flotsam Fiber Form (photo: Abigail Doan)

This week in the Thought Kitchen, environmental fiber artist, writer, and Nau ambassador Abigail Doan shares her unique perspective on the intersection of natural fibers, culture, sustainability, and the beauty of art in the everyday landscape. 

Performance fabrics and fiber have had a long love affair. The earliest Paleolithic string skirts were essentially mini-aprons with seductive fringes of twined fiber strands that served as fashion. We now rely on both engineered and natural fibers to keep us ventilated and warm when we venture out for work and play, and the thoughtful crafting of our personal garments continues to demonstrate what makes us attractive and uniquely human.

This is why I chose fiber as an art medium and vehicle for expression. Even though I had previously worked in documentary film and explored a range of more traditional studio methods, I ultimately opted to work with fiber and textiles because of their versatile nature and the low-impact/non-toxic possibilities. As an environmental artist, I am an advocate for slow crafting methods, the advancement of sustainable design strategies, and the preservation of wide open spaces. I use simple strands of spun or delicately crocheted fiber to draw on the land for site-specific installations that are carefully deconstructed after documentation.

Ground Cover in New Mexico

A view from my studio’s terrace in Sofia, Bulgaria

Fiber has universal properties that connect us to cultures and regions in ways that are border defying and vibrant. My dialogue with artisans/designers in Bulgaria, Chile, Iran, Peru, and Turkey to name just a few locales, has been inherently rich and complex because of unique connections to place and the sharing of local knowledge. The historic transport of textiles and design of shelters in these regions often inspires ideas for nomadic and adaptable thinking – solutions that work seamlessly with the environment and the challenges of climate. This sensitivity is something that I believe should be cultivated as we search for better ways of interfacing with altered landscapes and shifting economies.

Flotsam Fiber Form (photo: Abigail Doan)

Sustainable textile initiatives have taken many shapes and forms over the past decade. In addition to the deeper scrutiny of ingredients, the study of products’ life cycles, as well as the implementation of waste reduction methods, I believe it is vitally important to look closely at self as a way to better understand what role we might assume in the resourceful flow of materials around us. I have spent the past several years creating sculptural fiber forms out of household fiber, recycled detritus from my day-to-day life, as well as flotsam findings from city streets. I view these objects as multi-dimensional diaries and records of the passage of time in my life.

Crocheted Snow in Central Park, NYC (photo: Abigail Doan)

Urban environments are not devoid of intimate interactions with nature, and I am particularly sensitive to trying to work in a manner that seems wildly adaptive even in the most neglected pockets of a city or neighborhood park. Outreach efforts that aim to expose city dwellers to community gardens and the local wisdom that might be shared is often facilitated by hands-on activities linked to plant cultivation, fiber preparation, and even the examination of clothing and wardrobe narratives.

A recent visit to the textiles program at the California College of the Arts in Oakland demonstrated how students are involved in ‘Soil to Studio’ practices as a means to explore regional offerings in ways that link us directly to the clothing on our backs. Friend Sasha Duerr has been a pioneer on the permacouture frontier for some time now, and her work with natural plant dyes and urban mapping has influenced how I view art making and the importance of losing oneself organically as a way to understand what the next step might be.

I am optimistic about how and why fiber will continue to play a vital role in our lives. It is important for me to help others to see why clothing and even the most frayed strands of existence might link us directly to a garment worker in a far-off land or a farmer toiling to produce local goods at a competitive price. It is the very act of making and doing that I am trying to keep alive in a world that is often looking for increasingly facile solutions. I am searching for cast-off finds and weaknesses in the rope in order to make repairs and gain strength as our collective journey unfolds.

photo by Matt D’Annunzio

In the second installment of his three-part blog series, Bowen Ames—our moonlighting Art Director—profiles Nolan Calisch. This artist, photographer, and founder of Wealth Underground Farm uses an unconventional approach to sustainability to live his art every day.

Nolan Calish is equal parts farmer and artist. Though seemingly exclusive, these two identities became harmonious early in his adulthood. While studying filmmaking and photography in college, Nolan grew a garden for his local community. Soon after, he found himself working on several farms and large gardens before moving to Portland to begin an apprenticeship at Sauvie Island Organics.

As he immersed himself in agriculture, his art practice evolved to be more collaborative and socially engaged. “In college I began to really think about the world around me critically and realize how much trouble we were in. I realized that in my short time on earth that I wanted to leave the place in better shape than I found it,” says Nolan. But this didn’t mean abandoning his art practice for a more traditional pursuit of social change.

As an artist, Nolan has never aspired to work from a cerebral or self-concerned place. Instead he aims at maintaining a creative practice that aspires to tell a story while actively participating in that story. It’s an approach that is evident in his artwork; his photography delivers sensitive imagery of farming and the culture that evolves from the practice of growing food.

photo by Nolan Calisch

photo by Nolan Calisch

As he perused his art, his agricultural love affair also grew. In 2007, Nolan founded Wealth Underground Farm in Portland with his friend, Chris Seigel. Their dream of running a farm manifested out of many conversations about creating a collective homestead, a place to feed themselves and their neighbors, and a place to work outdoors. For Nolan, farming is highly connected with a sustainable creative practice.

“My work as an artist is about countering the monoculture mentality. I am much more interested in a diverse poly-culture, both in my field and in society at large” says Nolan. As an artist and a farmer, Nolan has made a conscious decision to build a life that is more compassionate, more communally minded, and more ecologically sensitive than the traditional artistic practice of creating work in a studio and competing for the limited accolades our society awards to the struggling artist.

If you ask him about his artwork,  you’ll find the conversation is much more about the experience of making art rather than a long list of achievements. Nolan attributes this difference to his affinity for a non-competitive model of art making. It’s a model that already exists in the small farming community and one that is based on the principal that if enough food is produced for the mouths who require it, there isn’t a need for competition.

“I love the exchange that happens in a CSA where local consumers are supporting local growers and there’s a sense of co-investment and cooperation. It’s strikingly different from the model in the art world where there’s a lot of competition and a dog-eat-dog attitude.”

photo by Matt D’Annunzio