Episode 31 | Ciara Imani May of Rebundle Building Patented Climate Solutions Inside the $19 Billion Hair Extension Industry

In Episode 31 of Compost Cotton and Cornrows, Dominique Drakeford sits with Ciara Imani May, founder of Rebundle and producer of Reclaimed Beyond the Braid, for a conversation that reframes beauty as a climate and health conversation rooted in agency ownership and truth. What begins as a personal question about what synthetic hair is made of opens into a powerful exploration of sustainability as harmony between our bodies, our communities and the ecosystems that sustain us. Ciara traces her journey from hypothesis to action revealing how curiosity, resourcefulness and community feedback sparked the creation of plant based hair made from banana fiber and why hair has long been left out of mainstream sustainability discourse despite its global environmental and cultural impact.This episode goes deep into the science storytelling and strategy behind building a regenerative supply chain for a nineteen billion dollar industry while centering Black women as inventors, innovators and rightful owners. Ciara breaks down the cultural significance of securing a patent led by Black women alongside the necessity of legal protection in climate innovation and the future of expanding this model across the global banana belt. Together they name what so many avoid saying out loud that products touching our scalps are environmental justice issues that demand clinical testing accountability and imagination. This is a conversation about claiming space and building what has never existed before. This episode  understands that Black led innovation must be integrated as a central climate solution. https://rebundle.co/Compost, Cotton & Cornrows: the space where Black & Afro-Indigenous Vanguards are redefining sustainability through storytelling!@Compost_Cotton_Cornrows