Buying Ethically-Traded and Environmentally-Friendly Clothing and Products

The current Western and Capitalist scene is in many ways a bit of a mix-up really. We now find ourselves in a position where we seem to have access to everything, all the time, and often at a very cheap price.

We walk down high streets flooded with chain stores, offering us ever-lower prices and better deals on things we may, or often may not, need, and I think the problem is here is that even though we may appear to have everything, and at very little cost, we are quite often blinded from the real story.

Now, I think the key problem is here that due to the nature of our Capitalist societies, most big companies get that way by being ruthless. Some DO get lucky, and some I really quite like, but many are motivated solely by turning over greater and greater profits, for their shareholders and for the "big cheeses" at the top. But then I'm sure most people know that kind of thing.

Unfortunately though, what I feel most people DON'T know, although thankfully it is starting to come to light a little more now, is the length to which many of these companies are willing to go to achieve this. Oftentimes the less we pay, the more the company has to cover up in order to get us those products at the low prices we demand.

Ok, so take clothing. You may or may not realize that most of the clothing we buy today is not only the product of out-sourced labour (to places such as China and India) and often horrendous worker conditions, but also out-sourced materials and environmental damage. Cotton, for example, if inorganically grown must be sprayed with complex cocktails of often harmful and environmentally damaging pesticides and chemicals, which often actually KILL cotton pickers and farmers.

The companies, so driven by high profits and business, often supply specific cotton seeds that have been made specifically to REQUIRE these chemicals to grow (which are also bought from the same and connected companies). They also provide what are known as "suicide seeds", which do not reproduce and create more plants, meaning the farmer must purchase more from the company.

Once the materials to make the clothes have been made, the remaining process is often no more respectable. Decades ago many products we buy would have been made locally, and tags such as "Made in America" and "Made in the UK" would have been much more common, but these days it is much cheaper to get them made in places such as China, India and Hong Kong.

Over there, minimum wage is low if existent at all, and employees are really forced to work whatever they can get just to feed and care for their families and themselves. Often, they work huge numbers of hours a week with few breaks, in cramped and often dangerous conditions, hence the term "sweatshop".

All of this IS the fault of the company really for allowing it to happen and supporting it, but it is also the fault of the governments in these countries for not establishing protection and regulations for their people.

Many, many Western and Capitalist companies sell products made like this, certainly the majority, and it applies to many kinds of goods - electronics, food, even furniture and household items, amongst many, many more, almost anything you can think of. I will write separate articles on lots of these different related topics soon.

Thankfully, there are many companies who DO exercise good and responsible business practices, and who are often great little companies who really care and seem to mean well!

"Fair Trade" is a standard which attempts to outline fair, overseas workers' conditions, and if food or clothing is "organic", it means that no harmful chemicals or pesticides were used in it's making, which is good both for people and the environment.

If you are interested in getting more active on issues such as fair trade, you might be interested in my latest project based on Twitter, with the intention of encouraging free speech, activism and positive organization! It is unfinished but coming soon! :)

The site is - Twitter Activism (www.twitteractivism.com)