Ethical Fashion
Dressing ethically means thinking about, not only how the garments themselves were made, but how the fabric was made. It is important to consider the treatment of the people who made your clothes and how environmentally friendly the production process was.
Many large companies were under the spotlight with the huge expose of sweat shops in the 90s. This sort of behaviour is still widespread as GAP hit the headlines earlier this year for sub-contracting work to a sweatshop in Delhi. Uzbekistan is the worlds second largest cotton exporter, children work for long hours, for months at a time, with little food and water and in fear of being beaten for not hitting their quota. The problem is; we just cannot be sure where our clothes have come from.
Synthetic fabrics often take longer to degrade, and are made using chemicals, consequently they are environmentally damaging. Cotton however, though grown as a crop is even more damaging than synthetic fabrics. As the most widely used fabric, the pesticides used on the crops cause unbelievable damage to the planet not to mention; according to the WHO, the deaths of 200,000 per year.
What can you do?
Organic Cotton is grown without the use of pesticides and fertilisers. It is becoming more widespread, with shops such as Marks and Spencer now stocking organic and fair trade garments. Fair trade ensures the fair treatment of workers that produce the organic material.
Hemp can be harvested for its fibres to produce clothing, it grows like a weed requiring very little water an no pesticides, it also provides high UV protection!
Second Hand or reconditioned garments can be found in charity shops and vintage shops. Topshop now have such a department. Reconditioned garments are recycled from old clothes so are completely unique.
Useful Contacts
Ethical clothing companies:
Cloth Works Howies
Tel:01225 309218 Tel: 01239 622340
www.clothworks.co.uk www.howies.co.uk
Green Fibres Enamore
Tel: 01803 868001 Tel: 07833 326147
www.greenfibres.co.uk www.enamore.co.uk
Spirals of Abundance Worn Again
Tel: 01269 822786 Tel: 0207 4073758
www.spiralsofabundance.com www.antiapathy.org/wornagain
Glo4Life
Tel: 01269 824695
www.glo4life.com
