Buy more shit, buy the right shit.
There's a sweatshop awareness thing going around facebook. 'Kate Moss - £3m to endorse a line of Top Shop clothing, Mauritian Factory Workers - 21p/hr to sew clothes for Top Shop'
The first poster on my list said that there was nowhere near as much awareness of ethics in goods as there is in food, for instance she was able to get a hold of fact sheets about meat but not about clothing and that t-shirts just shouldn't be available for £3. I think she's mostly correct, but also possibly not looking hard enough for information (or she's become interested in this in the wrong news-cycle).
Soo I piped in and I'm reposting it here because I'm quite happy with this rant.
This issue gains and loses public interest periodically, possibly because it conflicts with problems around living standards within the country. For many people it's a luxury to be able to think about and choose where their stuff comes from whether they're aware of the issues or not. That's why it's more of an industry issue than a consumer issue, and obviously industry has no interest in improving things unless profits follow.
In 2008 there was a BBC show called Blood, Sweat and Tshirts and I remember watching a whole host of other programs from the UK including a Kevin McCloud documentary, various AU news pieces and one program from Germany talking about an alternative design ideology (cradle to crade, there's also a good book) which seems to have made barely any impact on industry... which is why things like the Savar Building collapse is still a shock to many people and industry can get away with insulting greenwashing tactics afterwards.
Oh, there have also been discussions about labelling clothing Fair Trade in high street shops, saying that it then clearly identifies the rest of the products as sweatshop which may be a reason we don't see good labelling on clothing and goods, and you generally only see entire shops dedicated to ethics. It's also worth noting that it's not only the cheap brands who use slave labour and sweatshops.
AND FINALLY on the topic of ethical consumption Slavoj Zizek has some really insightful things to say (Pervert's Guide to Ideology has some great bits) and it's worth doing a youtube search.
(In reaction to the comparison of a Fair Farming guide vs lack of other consumer goods guides)
There are many guides online regarding clothing and goods, unfortunately they're mostly behind paywalls. The Fair Trade foundation and I think Oxfam release consumer guides too but you're right that the awareness isn't the same. I wonder if in this case it's to do with local produce (farming within the UK) vs imported goods. And as you say, many factories are secretive so it's often down to anecdotes and whistle blowers.
Another thing you could do is look at the Corporate Social Responsibility Reports for particular brands you're interested in, they should be available to the public in dusty parts of their websites or on request. They sometimes make for eye-opening reading on how companies justify themselves and offset their responsibility.
On the topic of fair trade labelled clothing (unfortunately I can't remember the source of that comment about labelling) but I wonder why it's acceptable or financially viable to have competing ethical/non ethical coffee, chocolate and bananas in a supermarket but it's not seen as acceptable or financially viable with clothing in a high street or department store.
In terms of guides, the issue of local vs import is an important one. The local guides will have been released by groups dedicated to preserving and promoting local products and practices but international equivalents don't have the same clout in the public eye. We just don't care about other people that much and governments have no incentive to step in with legislation in the same way they do with local farming.
My ideas about ethical consumption are changing rapidly, I have my own personal behaviours which I'll always hold on to but I'm no longer convinced that it makes any difference. It's not purely a consumer issue and I'm believing less and less that purchasing choices equate to any kind of vote.
The offset of responsibility corporately and individually is insidious, we're all guilty!
The first poster on my list said that there was nowhere near as much awareness of ethics in goods as there is in food, for instance she was able to get a hold of fact sheets about meat but not about clothing and that t-shirts just shouldn't be available for £3. I think she's mostly correct, but also possibly not looking hard enough for information (or she's become interested in this in the wrong news-cycle).
Soo I piped in and I'm reposting it here because I'm quite happy with this rant.
This issue gains and loses public interest periodically, possibly because it conflicts with problems around living standards within the country. For many people it's a luxury to be able to think about and choose where their stuff comes from whether they're aware of the issues or not. That's why it's more of an industry issue than a consumer issue, and obviously industry has no interest in improving things unless profits follow.
In 2008 there was a BBC show called Blood, Sweat and Tshirts and I remember watching a whole host of other programs from the UK including a Kevin McCloud documentary, various AU news pieces and one program from Germany talking about an alternative design ideology (cradle to crade, there's also a good book) which seems to have made barely any impact on industry... which is why things like the Savar Building collapse is still a shock to many people and industry can get away with insulting greenwashing tactics afterwards.
Oh, there have also been discussions about labelling clothing Fair Trade in high street shops, saying that it then clearly identifies the rest of the products as sweatshop which may be a reason we don't see good labelling on clothing and goods, and you generally only see entire shops dedicated to ethics. It's also worth noting that it's not only the cheap brands who use slave labour and sweatshops.
AND FINALLY on the topic of ethical consumption Slavoj Zizek has some really insightful things to say (Pervert's Guide to Ideology has some great bits) and it's worth doing a youtube search.
(In reaction to the comparison of a Fair Farming guide vs lack of other consumer goods guides)
There are many guides online regarding clothing and goods, unfortunately they're mostly behind paywalls. The Fair Trade foundation and I think Oxfam release consumer guides too but you're right that the awareness isn't the same. I wonder if in this case it's to do with local produce (farming within the UK) vs imported goods. And as you say, many factories are secretive so it's often down to anecdotes and whistle blowers.
Another thing you could do is look at the Corporate Social Responsibility Reports for particular brands you're interested in, they should be available to the public in dusty parts of their websites or on request. They sometimes make for eye-opening reading on how companies justify themselves and offset their responsibility.
On the topic of fair trade labelled clothing (unfortunately I can't remember the source of that comment about labelling) but I wonder why it's acceptable or financially viable to have competing ethical/non ethical coffee, chocolate and bananas in a supermarket but it's not seen as acceptable or financially viable with clothing in a high street or department store.
In terms of guides, the issue of local vs import is an important one. The local guides will have been released by groups dedicated to preserving and promoting local products and practices but international equivalents don't have the same clout in the public eye. We just don't care about other people that much and governments have no incentive to step in with legislation in the same way they do with local farming.
My ideas about ethical consumption are changing rapidly, I have my own personal behaviours which I'll always hold on to but I'm no longer convinced that it makes any difference. It's not purely a consumer issue and I'm believing less and less that purchasing choices equate to any kind of vote.
The offset of responsibility corporately and individually is insidious, we're all guilty!