General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Myth of the Ethical Shopper
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/the-myth-of-the-ethical-shopper/Very good and troubling piece. In particular note that rich countries are expected to fall from 64% of global demand to 30% of global demand by 2030.
And for a while there, it worked. The major apparel companies adopted codes of conduct, first banning just the most egregious stuffworkers under 16, forced overtimethen expanding to health and safety, environmental protection and social investment. Since 1998, Nike has followed U.S. clean air standards in all of its factories worldwide, while Levis gives financial literacy classes to some of its seamstresses. Every company from Hanes to Halliburton has a social responsibility report. An entire ecosystem of independent inspectors and corporate consultants has sprung up, applying auditing standards that are as pedantic and uncompromising as the NGOs advocating for them.
But in the past 25 years, the apparel industry, the entire global economy, has undergone a complete transformation. The way our clothes are made and distributed and thrown away is barely recognizable compared to the way it was done in the 90s. And yet our playbook for improving it remains exactly the same.
This year, I spoke with more than 30 company reps, factory auditors and researchers and read dozens of studies describing what has happened in those sweatshops since they became a cultural fixation three decades ago. All these sources led me to the same conclusion: Boycotts have failed. Our clothes are being made in ways that advocacy campaigns cant affect and in places they cant reach. So how are we going to stop sweatshops now?
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Accountability. The factories themselves are more far- flung and difficult to track. It's more difficult and costly, but manufacturers are cutting salaries and doubling up the work load- knowing they make it impossible to actually do the inspections.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)That's why the falling rich demand is important: companies that sell high-end clothing to the West just don't have the leverage in the internal production markets in India or Bangladesh that they did 25 years ago.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)As they'd stabilize economically the factories would just move someplace with a more reliable supply of cheap labor. Always just one step up the ladder from sustenance farming- but barely that.
China is investing in Africa, as soon as they get he infrastructure in to ship efficiently and quickly, it will take off.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Though that's up to the generation after me to deal with.
Warpy
(111,319 posts)because it's the only non knit, 100% cotton stuff I can find. Everything else has plastic in it and plastic doesn't breathe. This is not nice in the high desert. In the light Indian cottons, I don't even need to turn the cooler on, the fan does just fine.
Eventually the Feds are going to have to realize that restarting key industries here like textiles, steel, spare parts and SHOES is going to have to happen as a national security issue. Let's hope the textile people realize that natural fibers are better than plastic for apparel.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)We just employ very few people doing it.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)From an environmental standpoint, it's a dirty business. I hope we pressure manufacturers to change that- but there seems to be little awareness of that fact.
Jim Beard
(2,535 posts)I have to follow the markets
Warpy
(111,319 posts)which is really what you need in a hot climate. It fell out of favor because some people think it requires ironing. I find that drying it on a hanger works just fine for me.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Mosby
(16,334 posts)PatrickforO
(14,586 posts)by getting educated about ALL the issues and then pushing back and holding those we elect accountable.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I made a pair of pants just yesterday and today. I plan to start a blouse tomorrow afternoon. I make better clothes than I can buy. Couldn't do that when I was working.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)jtuck004
(15,882 posts)biodegradable clothing made from corn by-products.
No more sweatshops.