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Location: Blogs Linda's Highland Blog |
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| Posted by: Linda |
30/09/2008 09:38 |
I'm early again today because we are going out later even though its raining and miserable. We have noticed here that the weather can be completely different on the coast so thats where we are headed and we will hope for the best.
I am always on the lookout for items that may be of interest and I found some interesting facts about the Fashion Industry which I thought I might share with you today they are from the Ethical Fashion Forum-
Women’s clothing prices in the UK have fallen by a third in ten years.
(Mintel 2005)
While
UK consumers spend on average £780 per capita on fashion, clothes are
being produced to increasingly short lead in times and low costs. These
low costs do not account the social and environmental costs of
production.
The
minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh..is now equivalent to
£7.16 a month- two and half times less than its value of £18 in 1994
(The Ethical Trading Initiative)
Garment workers still face unfair and unsafe working conditions with few rights.
Values
led sourcing practices for fashion allow developing countries to tap
into their traditions and culture, deliver finished products, and
harness the power of national branding, rather than supply raw
materials.
(www.tradeforum.org)
Cotton
uses 22.5% of the world’s insecticides and 10% of all pesticides, on
2.5% of agricultural land. Chlorpyrifos, used in West African cotton,
causes brain and foetal damage, impotence and sterility. (Pesticide
Action Network UK)
The Aral Sea has shrunk to just 15% of its former volume, largely through cotton farming (The Environmental Justice Foundation)
The fashion industry uses vast quantities of water during production
and dying stages.
More than 1 million tonnes of textiles are thrown away every year in the UK (www.wasteonline.org.uk)
Transport and high energy and inefficient production processes mean that the energy cost of clothing is high.
The
fashion industry has changed the lives of thousands of people in some
of the poorest parts of the world though providing jobs, sustainable
incomes, skills and training. With equitable trade, fair wages and
working conditions, the fashion industry has the potential to have an
enormous impact in the reduction of poverty and hardship across the
globe.
Socially
and environmentally sustainable practices by fashion businesses are the
key to the reduction of both poverty and environmental damage in
fashion supply chains.
There are now a great many businesses committed to Fairtrade and sustainable practices and we can only hope that they are making a difference but there is still some way to go before it becomes mainstream. When you read the sort of facts detailed here you can see how important it is to continue with the effort. We can all do our bit by making our clothes last and passing children's clothes through friends and family after all when you buy quality it should last!
Linda
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