Wool is a natural performance fiber created by the carbon cycle, from solar energy through photosynthesis, sheep grazing, and the production of protein fibers that are shorn seasonally. In the Northern California Fibershed, foggy coastal regions are home to sheep with coarse wool that is well suited for bedding and durable products. Inland, in drier climates and high desert regions, fine wool is soft yet strong and creates beautiful knitwear and woven fabrics. 

Climate Beneficial Wool is verified by Fibershed and sourced from land stewards who are enhancing carbon drawdown through agricultural practices that regenerate soil health. 

For 5 years, Fibershed has been piloting US-based supply chains that directly connect brands and designers to farmers and ranchers who raise natural fiber with land stewardship practices that regenerate soil carbon.

Support Climate Beneficial Wool

Producers

Visit our Producer Directory map and check the box to filter listings to producers who are enrolled in our Climate Beneficial or Climate Beneficial Transitional program.

Clothing
Black Mountain Farm (accessories)| California Cloth Foundry (clothing) | Chico Flax (variety of items) | Coyuchi (accessories) | Danu Organic (Hida Mountain Pants) | Elizabeth Suzann (Cold Weather Collection garments) | Fibershed Marketplace (variety of items) | GDS Cloth Goods (tunic/smock) | Gynna Made (variety of items)| Integrity Alpacas & Fiber (accessories) | Italia A Collection (Regenerative Collection)| Lady Farmer (scarves) | Macedo’s Mini Acre (variety of items)| Mara Hoffman (knitwear) | Meridian Jacobs (variety of items) | The North Face Cali Wool Collection (jackets, beanies, scarves) | Spinning in the Wind (variety of items) | Val Des Monts (beanies) | Warner Mountain Weavers (hats)

Home goods 
Chico Flax (blankets) | Coyuchi (blankets, mattress toppers, duvet inserts, and dryer balls) | Earth My Body (variety of items) | Fibershed Marketplace (variety of items) | Frankenmuth Woolen Mill (bedding) | Full Circle Wool (sponges, batting, felt) | Gynna Made  (variety of items)| JG Switzer (pillows, furniture, throws)| Macedo’s Mini Acre (dryer balls)| Meridian Jacobs (blankets)

Fabric  & yarn
A Verb for Keeping Warm (yarn, fabric) | Alpacas of El Dorado (yarn) | Barinaga Ranch (yarn) | Bodega Pastures (yarn) | Brooklyn Tweed (yarn) | Caprette Cashmere (yarn) | Chico Flax (yarn)| Fibershed Marketplace (variety of items) | Full Belly Farms (yarn) | Huston Textile Co. (fabric)| Integrity Alpacas & Fiber (yarn) | Lani’s Lana (fabric) | Macedo’s Mini Acre (yarn)| Meridian Jacobs (yarn) | Milk & Honey 1860 (yarn) | Outlaw Valley Ranch (yarn) | Red Creek Farm (yarn) | Sincere Sheep (yarn) | Spinning in the Wind (yarn) | Spring Coyote Ranch (yarn) | Valhalla Farm (yarn) | Warner Mountain Weavers (yarn) | Wild Oat Hollow (yarn)

Fiber
Alpacas of El Dorado (roving) | Butte Mountain Farm (fleece, hides) | Caprette Cashmere (roving) | Full Belly Farms (roving, sheepskin) | Headwaters (roving, sheepskin)| Integrity Alpacas & Fiber (fleece, roving) | Macedo’s Mini Acre (roving, batts) | Meridian Jacobs (roving) | Milk & Honey 1860 (roving) | Millerton Sheep Farm (fleece) | Outlaw Valley Ranch (sheepskin, roving) | Pont Family Farm (fleece) | Red Creek Farm (roving, batts) | Spring Coyote Ranch (sheepskin, roving) | Wild Oat Hollow (fleece)

Source Climate Beneficial Wool

The Climate Beneficial™ Fiber Pool is a business-to-business platform for sourcing natural fibers that directly contribute to ecosystem restoration and the economic fortification of rural communities. 

The Climate Beneficial™ Fiber Pool (CBFP) is a partnership between Fibershed, a nonprofit organization based in California, and Imperial Yarn, an Oregon-based value-added producer, and is made possible through an innovative financing model provided by the #NoRegrets Initiative, a change-making investor focused on improving soil health. The CBFP offers fashion and textile brands the opportunity to source verified Climate Beneficial™ fine wool from California ranchers, and provides “land to hand” guidance for domestic manufacturing.

The family-owned ranches and sheep grazing operations currently participating in the Fiber Pool will be responsible for sequestering, at minimum, an additional 13,000 Metric Tons of atmospheric carbon per year— the equivalent of removing 2,900 gas powered vehicles from the road. This is the amount of carbon they are drawing down from the atmosphere and into their soils beyond business-as-usual scenarios, through implementing land stewardship practices from their Carbon Farm Plans.

For brands and designers, download your copy of Fibershed’s use guidelines here: Climate Beneficial Blending and Supply Chain Parameters.

Life Cycle Assessment

Carbon Farming Practices can be measured and monitored for the enhancement of permanent soil carbon storage, and therefore material coming from these landscapes can be verified as Climate Beneficial. In an initial research study by Dr. Marcia deLonge of UC Berkeley’s Silver Lab, it was shown that sheep grazed on compost-applied rangelands produced wool with a net carbon benefit. Moving that net negative footprint wool through a regional and renewable energy powered supply chain would produce a garment with a negative CO2 footprint. Comparing conventional to Climate Beneficial production shows a carbon footprint differential of over 150 pounds of CO2 per garment. See the comparison below.

Download a PDF of the study: LCA-wool-garment