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Environmental scientist and microplastics researcher Dana Zhaxylykova on the links between fast fashion, toxicity and microplastics

Conscious Chatter

Release Date: 02/25/2025

Designer Olivia Cueva of Oakland Style Lab on the overlapping of biomaterials research, fashion design, & community-centered education as a multifaceted approach to rethinking fashion's systems show art Designer Olivia Cueva of Oakland Style Lab on the overlapping of biomaterials research, fashion design, & community-centered education as a multifaceted approach to rethinking fashion's systems

Conscious Chatter

In Episode 342, Kestrel welcomes Olivia Cueva, a radical dreamer, designer, technologist, and researcher, to the show. bridges creative technology, fashion, biomaterials, and storytelling to explore transformation, regeneration, and collective care. Her practice moves fluidly between community-centered education, speculative design, and research into sustainable and bio-based materials—always with the aim of sparking dialogue, nurturing resilience, and envisioning more just futures. “A lot of the research that I do now is focused on natural dyes and working with plants and seeing how the...

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Conscious Chatter

In Episode 341, Kestrel welcomes Dr. Joanne Brasch, the Assistant Director at the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC), to the show. A network of local governments, non-government organizations, businesses, and individuals supporting policies and projects where producers share in the responsibility for managing problem products at their end of life, is California’s thought leader and expert on Product Stewardship and the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) movement. “We're most proud of our textile EPR program because we achieved a lot in SB 707 that set a new level, a new...

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Conscious Chatter

In Episode 340, Kestrel welcomes Constanza Gomez, the cofounder and CEO of Sortile, to the show. is a company focused on empowering the textile recycling industry with technology that enables the identification, sorting and traceability of textiles. “I was a much more hopeful person when I started this company and I've slowly become more of a skeptic. But that means I've leaned more heavily on the need for regulation versus people acting of their own free and good hearts. And so I think the opportunity is great. You can redefine and set real incentives to manage end of life better.”...

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Conscious Chatter

In Episode 339, Kestrel welcomes Beth Jensen, the Chief Impact Officer at Textile Exchange, to the show. Leading the organization’s efforts to achieve beneficial climate and nature impacts, Beth oversees key functions at including impact data and Life Cycle Assessment studies; impact tools and reporting mechanisms; reports and research; fundraising; and public affairs/policy. “A big part of vulnerability is really admitting that you don't have all the answers. So in sustainability, in fashion, apparel, and textile space, this is just the way we have...

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In Episode 338, Kestrel welcomes Miranda Green, an investigative journalist focused on politics and climate change, to the show. As the author of Atmos Magazine’s weekly newsletter, , Miranda takes a weekly look behind the climate headlines to question how decisions are made, why they matter, and what they reveal about this moment. “I think data to me is, they’re facts. It's hard facts. It's looking at points that have been, you know, they're determined by scientists. They've been measured. They are proven points that then, I can use as building blocks to tell my story.” -Miranda THEME...

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Conscious Chatter

In Episode 337, Kestrel welcomes Gail Gallie, the founder of THE NAT, to the show. A new convening force for Nature, is primarily focused on galvanizing the private capital needed to close the nature finance gap; they just held their inaugural NAT Gala “Night For Nature” in September 2025. From working in advertising to co-leading the creation of the UN Global Goals Campaign, Gail has an extensive background in global advocacy and campaigning.  “I was pretty blown away that you could quantify the amount of money that was needed to fix where we are now to where we need to get to in...

info_outline Carry Somers on her new book Carry Somers on her new book "The Nature Of Fashion" and the importance of both restoring fashion's connection with nature and repositioning fashion in the broader narrative of ecology as a mirror of who we are

Conscious Chatter

In Episode 336, Kestrel welcomes author and visionary changemaker, Carry Somers, to the show. Co-founder of , the world’s largest fashion activism movement, and the author of a new book – , Carry has worked across the fashion space in various capacities, advocating for a shift towards transparency, fairness, and sustainability in supply chains. “Textiles reflect our connection with the natural world, but they're not just about utility. They're definitely about beauty as well. But they're also really an echo of our disconnection from it. And I realized during my research that that rift...

info_outline Lisa Kibutu of Regenerative Fashion Collaborative Exchange (REFACE) on developing textiles in Africa from Indigenous agricultural waste and embracing AI (ancestral intelligence) show art Lisa Kibutu of Regenerative Fashion Collaborative Exchange (REFACE) on developing textiles in Africa from Indigenous agricultural waste and embracing AI (ancestral intelligence)

Conscious Chatter

In Episode 335, Kestrel welcomes Lisa Kibutu, the founder of Regenerative Fashion Collaborative Exchange (REFACE) and Regenerative Textile Development Institute (RTDI), to the show. A tech-led social enterprise, was created to holistically address the negative impact of the global fashion industry on climate change, biodiversity, and the environment in Africa. With , she is building a pioneering research and development institution that leverages blockchain technology, zero waste operations, and regenerative agriculture to transform agricultural waste from Indigenous grain crops into...

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In Episode 334, Kestrel welcomes Emily Mikhaiel, the cofounder and creative director of Nazeerah, to the show. A clothing brand inspired by the legacy of her grandmother, supports organic and regenerative farming practices to honor Egyptian cotton, and produces locally in Egypt to maintain direct relationships with their suppliers and reduce their carbon footprint. “There really wasn't waste while my father was growing up. Everything was either composted or if it was metal, it was recycled or reused or repurposed. If a garment was no longer wearable, they'd cut it up into strips and weave...

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In Episode 333, Kestrel welcomes Cate Havstad-Casad, a designer, entrepreneur, and first-generation regenerative rancher, to the show. Cate’s work as a designer and land steward has evolved a great deal since she founded Havstad Hat Company in 2014. Today she manages Casad Family Farms with her husband, while building , a luxury leather goods brand focused on using 100% American, regeneratively sourced hides. “I love the idea of having things forever. I love the idea of a great leather boot being resoled again and again. My work in hats, I'm like the anti-growth capitalist. I'm like, you...

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More Episodes

In Episode 328, Kestrel welcomes Dana Zhaxylykova, an environmental scientist & microplastics researcher, to the show. Originally from Kazakhstan, Dana is currently based in Germany — through her Instagram platform, she shares practical and actionable tips about microplastics through a scientific lens.

“As a scientist, I want to assure you that every little action in avoiding plastic, it can have an impact. And as scientists and as a scientific community, we expect people, not only the governments and corporations (they have a huge responsibility, of course), but we as people, we also can have an impact as individuals, we can help these problems to get solved faster.”-Dana

This month, we’re focusing on diverse ways to combat fast fashion. I don’t know about you, but whenever I think of fast fashion, my brain automatically goes to issues around MICROPLASTICS.

Considering that over 60% of global fiber production is synthetic materials – derived from fossil fuels – it’s hard not to make that connection, especially given some of the intimate experiences I’ve had watching scientists from 5 Gyres literally collect microplastics from the water and air around us, and hear them talk about how so many of the microplastics they collect have come from fabric and clothing. 

As this week’s guest highlights, with nylon, polyester and acrylic fabrics flooding the fast fashion market, these fibers are actually releasing microplastics in every stage of the process – from production, to wearing the garments, to washing and drying them. Basically, there are microplastics being shed into our environment from every single stage of a fast fashion garment’s lifecycle.

That feels overwhelming, I know, but I love how this week’s guest really puts things into perspective, not only from a scientific lens, but also from a practical hands-on point of view, offering us suggestions on the things we can actually control, when it comes to microplastics in our lives.