diff --git a/doc/cachew_disable.md b/doc/cachew_disable.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6986610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/cachew_disable.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+Can put this in the README.md once its been tested a bit
+
+### Disable through Environment Variables
+
+To disable a `cachew` function in some module, you can use the `CACHEW_DISABLE` environment variable. This is a colon-delimited (like a `$PATH`) list of modules to disable. It disables modules given some name recursively, and supports [unix-style globs](https://docs.python.org/3/library/fnmatch.html)
+
+For example, say you were using [HPI](https://github.com/karlicoss/HPI) which internally uses a snippet like `mcachew` above. You may want to enable `cachew` for _most_ modules, but disable them for specific ones. For example take:
+
+```
+my/browser
+├── active_browser.py
+├── all.py
+├── common.py
+└── export.py
+my/reddit
+├── __init__.py
+├── all.py
+├── common.py
+├── pushshift.py
+└── rexport.py
+```
+
+To disable `cachew` in all of these files: `export CACHEW_DISABLE=my.browser:my.reddit` (disables for all submodules)
+
+To disable just for a particular module: `export CACHEW_DISABLE='my.browser.export'`
+
+Similarly to `$PATH` manipulations, you can do this in your shell configuration incrementally:
+
+```
+CACHEW_DISABLE='my.reddit.rexport'
+if some condition...; then
+    CACHEW_DISABLE="my.browser.export:$CACHEW_DISABLE"
+fi
+export CACHEW_DISABLE
+```
+
+You can also use globs, e.g. `CACHEW_DISABLE='my.*.gdpr`
+
+To disable `cachew` everywhere, you could set `export CACHEW_DISABLE='*'`
diff --git a/src/cachew/__init__.py b/src/cachew/__init__.py
index 298c272..3ed911c 100644
--- a/src/cachew/__init__.py
+++ b/src/cachew/__init__.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import json
 import logging
 from pathlib import Path
+import os
 import stat
 import sys
 from typing import (
@@ -486,6 +487,78 @@ def callable_name(func: Callable) -> str:
     mod = getattr(func, '__module__', None) or ''
     return f'{mod}:{func.__qualname__}'
 
+def callable_module_name(func: Callable) -> Optional[str]:
+    return getattr(func, '__module__', None)
+
+# could cache this, but might be worth not to, so the user can change it on the fly?
+def _parse_disabled_modules(logger: Optional[logging.Logger] = None) -> List[str]:
+    # e.g. CACHEW_DISABLE=my.browser:my.reddit
+    if 'CACHEW_DISABLE' not in os.environ:
+        return []
+    disabled = os.environ['CACHEW_DISABLE']
+    if disabled.strip() == '':
+        return []
+    if ',' in disabled and logger:
+        logger.warning('CACHEW_DISABLE contains a comma, but this expects a $PATH-like, colon-separated list; '
+                       f'try something like CACHEW_DISABLE={disabled.replace(",", ":")}')
+    # remove any empty strings incase did something like CACHEW_DISABLE=my.module:$CACHEW_DISABLE
+    return [p for p in disabled.split(':') if p.strip() != '']
+
+
+def _matches_disabled_module(module_name: str, pattern: str) -> bool:
+    '''
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser', 'my.browser')
+    True
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser', 'my.*')
+    True
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser', 'my')
+    True
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser', 'my.browse*')
+    True
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser.export', 'my.browser')
+    True
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('mysomething.else', '*')  # CACHEW_DISABLE='*' disables everything
+    True
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser', 'my.br?????')  # fnmatch supports unix-like patterns
+    True
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser', 'my.browse')
+    False
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('mysomething.else', 'my')  # since not at '.' boundary, doesn't match
+    False
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('mysomething.else', '')
+    False
+    >>> _matches_disabled_module('my.browser', 'my.browser.export')
+    False
+    '''
+    import fnmatch
+
+    if module_name == pattern:
+        return True
+
+    module_parts = module_name.split('.')
+    pattern_parts = pattern.split('.')
+
+    # e.g. if pattern is 'module.submod.inner_module' and module is just 'module.submod'
+    # theres no possible way for it to match
+    if len(module_parts) < len(pattern_parts):
+        return False
+
+    for mp, pp in zip(module_parts, pattern_parts):
+        if fnmatch.fnmatch(mp, pp):
+            continue
+        else:
+            return False
+    return True
+
+def _module_is_disabled(module_name: str, logger: logging.Logger) -> bool:
+
+    disabled_modules = _parse_disabled_modules(logger)
+    for pat in disabled_modules:
+        if _matches_disabled_module(module_name, pat):
+            logger.debug(f'caching disabled for {module_name} '
+                         f"(matched '{pat}' from 'CACHEW_DISABLE={os.environ['CACHEW_DISABLE']})'")
+            return True
+    return False
 
 # fmt: off
 _CACHEW_CACHED       = 'cachew_cached'  # TODO add to docs
@@ -567,6 +640,11 @@ def cachew_wrapper(
         yield from func(*args, **kwargs)
         return
 
+    mod_name = callable_module_name(func)
+    if mod_name is not None and _module_is_disabled(mod_name, logger):
+        yield from func(*args, **kwargs)
+        return
+
     def get_db_path() -> Optional[Path]:
         db_path: Path
         if callable(cache_path):