Winona Quigley of Green Matters Natural Dye Company on reimagining what *scale* means for natural dyeing & how accessibility and limits also play into the idea of *growth*

In episode 301, Kestrel welcomes Winona Quigley, the founder and CEO of Green Matters Natural Dye Company, to the show. Based in Lancaster County PA, Green Matters is dedicated to bringing pollution-free color to the textile industry by using all-natural dye ingredients.

“I think that what brands are going to have to embrace about working with more sustainable fibers and textile-making practices, is the fact that we are working with plants. Not just for the dyes, but for some of those fiber crops — they are plants. And it’s like winemaking, in that we need to think about production not as how do we make something identical a hundred thousand times, but how do we build production systems that not only account for, but embrace the organic nature of working with plants.” -Winona

Something that has become a knee jerk response – whenever someone starts a business endeavor within the sustainability space – is to ask about how SCALABLE that venture is. 

It’s a question that I found myself asking on a regular basis early on with the show 7 years ago, and something that I have become increasingly aware of in my discussions. I mean – it’s obvious once you step back and get a little perspective – we are all entirely entrenched in the prevailing ideals of our capitalistic system, and it makes us regularly think that in order for something to be successful, it must constantly grow from an economic lens.  

I’m not saying we shouldn’t talk about scale, but maybe it’s time to reimagine what it actually means. Especially for those of us advocating for a different fashion system than what currently exists.

This week’s guest is specifically working to scale natural dye techniques through their professional fabric dyeing services. A lot of the time, we hear about natural dyeing on a very small scale, a craft that folks experiment with at home or in textile art spaces. But for our guest’s company, they have an intention to do natural dyeing at scale, per se. 

We talk about what SCALE means for them, how they’re reimagining it from various angles, and how “limits” come into play with the way they approach scaling in practice. 

Quotes & links from the conversation:

• Brooklyn Tweed, company Winona mentions (first big project she did was for them)

• “So that’s a really interesting challenge, I think, for our generation of business owners is — how can we solve the problem we’re hoping to solve, make enough money to pay everybody, and not expect to embark on this endeavor just because we’re trying to make as much profit as possible.” -Winona (28:53)

• Westfield Flower Company, a dahlia supplier Green Matters works with

• Chipotle merch naturally dyed with avocado pits by Green Matters

• Blue Light Junction, Winona mentions their work

• Kenya Miles (founder of Blue Light Junction)