[Macbow]

I know veganism and green consumerism don't have to go hand in hand so this comment is not directed at you Alan. I respect your stance on the use of feathers (although I personally think if the turkey's being killed anyway for meat using its feathers is OK).
What I do like about the trad aspect of archery is the biodegradable aspect of the arrows. It doesn't take long for wooden shafts, natural feathers and steel points to rot & rust away if lost in the woods. Discarded plastic fletchings will probably be around for thousands of years. It's a pity there isn't some kind of trad nock that is a bit more environmentally friendly. Perhaps hardwood nocks with the string slot precut and a 5 degree taper.
There is a guy in the USA (Reparrow) making repair footings that are internally tapered so you just taper the broken end of the shaft and stick them on. I have used them and they are very strong. I would imagine making a nock would be a similar process.
I know you can cut the shaft and reinforce with thread but it's not for me. My groups suffer if my plastic nocks are even slightly misaligned plus I just don't trust self-nocked shafts being shot from a turbocharged AFB or recurve.
Having said all this I'm a huge carbon fan and accuracy is more important to me than being trad or green. I've only broken/lost four carbon shafts in two years whereas with woodies I am personally responsible for cutting down a forest the size of Belgium.