NIRMI comes to an end.

Sustainability is no longer a trend . Large platforms are flooding the market with cheap products. Fair production and genuine craftsmanship are losing importance because many people simply have to watch their pennies, and costs have risen sharply. Amid all the sustainability claims and marketing promises of mass producers, customers hardly recognize what it means to operate within and beyond planetary boundaries.

At the same time, many policies that would strengthen sustainable economic development are being rolled back, such as laws on plastic avoidance or fair supply chains. More and more money is flowing into armaments and resource allocation struggles, while the environment, health, and education are neglected.

Another sustainable baby carrier won't change anything , as long as it's just an additional one. The market is dominated by cheap, plastic-based carriers produced in the Far East, which, thanks to low production costs, can buy the necessary reach on major platforms, while at the same time, there are masses of used carriers available as sustainable alternatives.

That's why we've reached the limits of our motto "Change through Trade." It's becoming increasingly clear that we cannot use the same tools that are destroying our world. Consumption and the market, operated just a little "better" or more "consciously," won't change anything unless the political framework changes fundamentally.

Yet it's equally clear that a better world has long existed: It's evident in the ways of our indigenous partners, who for generations have lived in harmony with nature, with what they cultivate and produce themselves. And it also slumbers in our own bodies, which for millennia have been in balance with nature in small communities, but today seem exhausted, overstimulated, and out of balance.

Sustainability means more than just natural materials and fair wages : It means rediscovering a connection to nature, thinking in cycles rather than deadlines, and in relationships between animals, humans, and plants rather than in competition. Being grateful for the abundance Mother Earth still gives us, and making decisions with this awareness, knowing that future generations and the life that continues after us will be important.

Just as babies instinctively know when they've had enough while breastfeeding , and just as our bodies know when to stop growing, this knowledge needs to be relearned and rediscovered within ourselves. So that we can once again feel how many pairs of pants in our closet are enough. 🙂 Inspired by the knowledge of today's indigenous communities, by the practices of our great-grandparents, and by new ideas that help us live in relationship again.

We continue this part of NIRMI, the knowledge, the craftsmanship and the lived relationship with nature, as The Caring Tribe: A community for all who feel that a different life is needed, beyond exhaustion and excess .

This is about remembering: rhythms, relationships, and the wisdom that lies within us and in the earth.
About new routines that strengthen us through mutual help, and about rituals that lighten our mental burden and nurture the spirit of reciprocity.