Sustainability Reimagined: Historical Solutions for Modern Problems

Introduction 

We, as modern people, often look at our ancestors in a condescending, if not even patronising way. But are we really the know-it-all generation, especially when it comes to our outlook on the contemporary ecological crisis? In the following article I will explore some ingenious techniques along with the dying crafts that our predecessors employed to improve their life in a fairly sustainable way.

A historic(al) lesson 

Many people often tend to forget that we today with our technological,cultural and scientific advancements and our general societal knowledge gathered all together, are in reality standing on giants shoulders. Centuries of complex thinking, craftsmanship and innovation have brought us to this moment. Nowadays, we are truly blessed to have much of this condensed knowledge in our hands. Sadly, however, some of it has been already lost to time and thus forgotten. 

Even now, in the 21st century, we may observe numerous professions, such as individual tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, potters and so on, to be dying out. With the disappearance of these and other professions, we are losing ages of building up specialised knowledge and craftsmanship that could turn out to be truly beneficial in the face of today’s challenges connected with climate change, ever higher resource spending and horrendous waste generation. 

I am hoping that by presenting here the techniques and solutions, often known from centuries ago, I will inspire you to advocate for saving the art of craftsmanship and taking inspiration from our history. Enjoy!

Earth structures and self-healing cement, AKA: How our ancestors managed to build such long lasting, sustainable buildings.

Image by ArtHouse Studio | Pexels

Adobe Houses

Let’s start with mentioning one of the oldest techniques our ancestors used to make themselves a stable shelter: building using earth, clay, sand, stones and straws. 

First we have, dating as far as 8300 BCE, Adobe Houses. 

These buildings made from a mixture of soil and water, bound together by straws, were first adopted in arid regions where wood was scarce. They were incredibly sustainable, not only because of  the materials being locally sourced but also by being very energy efficient. 

The Adobe walls had a high thermal mass, which kept the temperature inside the house stable, slowing the changes during the radical changes in heat, which came out to be truly beneficial in arid, desert-like regions but had sadly limited use in colder climates. 

Moreover, Adobe buildings had lower energy consumption and produced minimal amounts of waste compared to modern-style buildings. They were easy to build, had some conservatory requirements but all in all, were very customizable and a perfect solution for sustainable structures in dry climates.

Cob Houses

A similar technique, however designed for colder climates like northern Europe, are Cob Houses. This method is from centuries ago, but was booming in popularity during the 19th century in England with its beautifully looking, well insulated houses, traditionally white-washed with thatched roofs made out of natural materials. 

This type of housing was able to withstand far more than many modern buildings: from harsh weather, through fires to earthquakes. The buildings made from a dough-like mixture of clay, water, straw and soil were long lasting, sustainable, and highly customizable. They were also energy efficient thanks to good insulation, cost efficient as the used materials were cheap, but unfortunately not that time efficient as the drying of the walls might take some time.

Self-healing Roman cement

I will give the last word,  in the topic of long lasting sustainable construction, to the ancient Romans.

Recent findings of MIT researchers demonstrate that probably the most-known masters of engineering in history, the ancient Romans, still have some secrets of their ingenious construction in store for us. 

The team of researchers has concluded that the amazing durability properties of Roman buildings is achieved thanks to hot mixing method of roman cement that allows for small crystals of calcium carbonate to form, which in turn can react with water, so when cracks appear, calcium rich solution recrystallizes, healing the crack spontaneously.

But what does this really have to do with sustainability? This amazing discovery helps to further the development of lightweight concrete structures through extending its functional lifespan. This can in turn reduce the need in resources and reduce emissions of cement production (which amounts to about 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions), and also helps in other projects such as CO2 absorbing cement.

You can learn more about all these in amazing historical solutions for construction using the links below.

What Is a Cob House? Definition and Building Process (treehugger.com)

Are Adobe Houses Sustainable? (treehugger.com)

Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable? | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Quilting, Darning, Traditional Loom Weaving and dyes straight from nature

Image by CadanceHunter | Pixabay

Quilting

This sewing technique became known to Europeans as early as the Crusades (12th century), but was used probably centuries earlier in China, Middle East and North Africa. Quilting is a technique in which multiple layers of fabric come together to create a warm insulating cover. 

This method often takes advantage of patchwork, (another but fairly known technique of sewing together pieces of different fabrics to reduce waste and create interesting, original patterns) and from its beginnings quilting is known for its no waste philosophy. Thrifty colonial women of 17th century America used this technique to make and repair their clothing and bedding. 

They of course were not always made out of scraps and used clothing, as their beautiful patterns as well as practicality encouraged making of fabrics specifically for the quilt. However, in the true spirit of sustainability we should take what is best from history and stick to the no-waste philosophy to make full use of this heritage.

Darning

Another great way to not only recycle but upcycle clothing and make it long-lasting is darning. 

This knitting technique can be found in 18th century samplers from the Textile Research Centre in Leiden, Netherlands, but it was definitely known and used earlier in Iran and the Indian peninsula area.

This method of mending and reinforcing clothing allows for much artistic expression as it focuses on visible knitwear as a form of repair. It allows for making your clothing feel original, stay in use for longer and in my opinion it makes it look quite fashionable.

Ways of restoring clothing and furthering its lifespan is so crucial in today’s times as the fast-fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to the contemporary ecological crisis.

Traditional Loom Weaving

The best way to fight fast-fashion, however, is making quality products in the first place and traditional loom weaving certainly brings truly masterwork craftsmanship to the table. 

The looms are entirely human powered, a rare sight these days, but what really matters is the amazing quality textile that is produced by this method. It is a hard and labour intensive process as all of it is done by hand but i i’s worth it as woven products last for years.

The benefits from this method are spectacular, as they include: no carbon emissions during production, each made piece is unique and of high-quality and durability and it produces very little waste as only the materials needed are loaded to the loom.

Traditional Loom Weaving obviously is not a solution for the mass production, but still reviving traditional handcraft and learning how much work needs to be put into making a quality textile, can influence our consumption practices. It makes us reconsider what are the alternative costs that we make other actors pay, such as underpaid workers, climate and  environment.

Natural dyeing

It is often hard to imagine for us, people of modern times, how those in the past made their clothing beautiful and full of colour. For example, the pop-cultural image of the middle ages in general is that it was all grey, dirty, sad and the streets of villages and cities were flowing with mud. Well, in reality mediaeval and ancient people loved colours, and even humble peasants could wear colourful garments.

How was it achieved? People in ancient times made use of natural dyes. Plants, berries, roots, lichen, tree bark and insects were only some of the means used to produce dyes from. Even then it was still very much possible to achieve every shade of colour of the rainbow. The materials for days were mostly ground into powder, then mixed with mordant - to preserve the colour on the clothing and then applied to the textile.

The benefits of using natural dyes are nothing to scoff at, especially in the strife towards sustainability. The waste in the natural dyeing process can often be used as a fertiliser for use in agriculture, many natural dye plants thrive on low quality soil, so they would not take space from food plants and most importantly could reduce the consumption of fossil-fuel based synthetic dyes. They are also usually renewable and biodegradable and are not hazardous to human skin.

You can learn more about all of making processes and history of these tailoring techniques using the links below: 

Natural Dyes: Dyeing Process and Environmental Impact - Textile Blog

What is Traditional Loom Weaving? YGN Collective | Artisan Goods

What is Darning? Fix Holes in Sweaters & Socks | LoveCrafts

Darned! A Hidden History of Darning Samplers – Selvedge Magazine

Quilting | History, Characteristics, & Facts | Britannica

What Is Quilting? What Does Quilting Mean, What to Quilt | TREASURIE

Medieval Clothing and Fabrics in the Middle Ages (thoughtco.com)

It is however important to note that every solution and technique could be used in a greenwashing manner. As with everything, when using these solutions, companies and individuals can take shortcuts, for example: use additional chemicals with natural dyes, irresponsibly dispose of the waste from production and extort workers. That is why we as consumers need to be on the lookout and also influence the legislators to provide systemic solutions against greenwashing.

What have we learned?

Whether achieving sustainability is possible in general ,stays under question by many researchers. But even if it is not, we can still strive to achieve its goals and if we are to do so, we need to use as many tools as possible. That is why I advocate for exploring historical solutions. The more knowledge we forego, the harder it will be to come up with new solutions. We often do not give our ancestors enough credit for their innovativeness, which sometimes leads us to reinventing the wheel. With ever higher consumption and climate disaster enclosing day by day our planet does not really have time for us playing around with just new ideas. So let’s get off of our modern-superiority high horse and search the manuscripts for inspiration.

Author: Maksymilian Puścian

Editor: Laura Bzdak