Constanza Gomez of Sortile on the questions we should be asking around EPR policy, a tool to support textile recycling, and the need for more research and data in the textile sector
Release Date: 05/11/2026
Constanza Gomez of Sortile on the questions we should be asking around EPR policy, a tool to support textile recycling, and the need for more research and data in the textile sector
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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Beth Jensen of Textile Exchange on fashion's complex history with data, how the organization is addressing it through their open-source reporting and the need to ensure the search for *perfect data* doesn't hinder real action
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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Miranda Green of Atmos on disappearing climate data, how it's impacting journalists & their ability to tell important stories, and what we can do about it
Conscious Chatter
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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Gail Gallie of THE NAT on their inaugural gala and the need to focus on galvanizing global capital to close the nature finance gap
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...
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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...
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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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Emily Mikhaiel of Nazeerah on honoring her ancestors and Egyptian cotton through regenerative, organic farming practices and a localized supply chain
Conscious Chatter
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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Cate Havstad-Casad of Range Revolution on building a leather supply chain that centers traceability and regenerative practices for the land, people & community
Conscious Chatter
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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An Update From Kestrel: why she's embracing sorting, shedding and creating space & why we should welcome the in-betweens in life, sustainability and fashion
Conscious Chatter
Episode 332 features Kestrel (just me!) in the second-ever solo episode of the show. With a focus on Kestrel’s reemergence after having her second child, she shares some of the things that have been on her mind during this postpartum era, the power of sorting, what “release” has meant to her over this last year, what she’s shedding and what’s she’s embracing. It’s very personal, raw and vulnerable — one of the ways Kestrel always loves to connect with you all. “Maybe this whole episode is sounding disconnected from what you generally hear in the sustainability and fashion...
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Ben Mead of OEKO-TEX® on the what brands should be doing to mitigate toxic chemicals across fashion's supply chains amidst shifting tariffs & global policy change
Conscious Chatter
In Episode 331, Kestrel welcomes Ben Mead, the Managing Director of Hohenstein Institute America, to the show. In Ben’s role, he serves as the company’s liaison with government agencies, industry collaborations and trade associations, and he also oversees responsibilities for the U.S. “You can’t make any real good decision around chemistry or you know how a product is made, if you don’t know who’s making it and what’s going into it.” -Ben MAY THEME — HOW TOXIC CHEMICALS FROM OUR CLOTHES MOVE AROUND THE WORLD It is a tumultuous time when it comes to policy, and policy...
info_outlineIn Episode 340, Kestrel welcomes Constanza Gomez, the cofounder and CEO of Sortile, to the show. Sortile 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.” -Constanza
THEME — EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY & TEXTILE WASTE DIVERSION
EPR, or Extended Producer Responsibility, has come up on the show in the past in various capacities – we first talked about it in depth back on episode 275 with Liz Ricketts and Sammy Oteng from The Or Foundation when they were the first grant recipient of SHEIN’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Fund to help manage textile waste.
Just to get our minds on track for this chat – EPR or Extended Producer Responsibility initiatives or legislation ideally ensure that producers are required to assume the costs of collection, treating, and recycling of the end-of-life of their products.
We are currently in a very exciting time when it comes to EPR policy around the world – there are mandatory schemes in France, Sweden and the Netherlands, with others on the horizon … and where I’m based, here in California, the nation’s first EPR policy for textiles, SB 707, passed in 2024, and is currently moving through the process of being implemented.
There are still SO MANY UNKNOWNS when it comes to how these policies are going to play out, but one thing that this week’s guest sees as a benefit to this shifting legislation is – MORE ACCESS TO DATA.
As she shares, we just don’t have enough data on the textile industry, and when we do, it’s generally static data. When EPR comes into play, companies are going to HAVE to report and share specific data, which is going to bring in a much more consistent stream of data and over time, will lead to having more access to dynamic data as well.
This week’s guest sees the direct link between research and data, and the need for more of both across the textile space to support more textile diversion – her own research led her to develop a table top textile scanner that helps determine the fiber composition of textiles, a massive support in the sorting process.
We talk about that, but also bigger questions around the opportunities and challenges she sees with EPR policy. I have to say – one thing this week’s guest absolutely nailed in our conversations is – posing which questions that we should be asking right now with a big focus on – how do we make these systems practical?