Ethical VS CONVENTIONAL Fashion

There are numerous negative impacts that the fashion industry poses poses both to the workers engaged along the production chain, as well as to the environment. We outline some of the more important ones below.

THE CLOTHING AND TEXTILE INDUSTRY – HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIETAL IMPACTS

Reasonably priced consumer goods should not be available in affluent societies at the expense of the human rights of workers in poorer countries whose lives and futures are burdened and exploited by the work they engage in to produce such goods. The labour rights and conditions of these individuals do not matter less than ours because they are distant and removed from our immediate contact. Yet, despite the occasional incident that makes the news and draws our attentions to the injustices that exist in the fashion industry, progress in the improvement of these condition is slow and giant corporations continue to extract what profit they can whilst paying lip service to the huge problems that tax individuals on the production side of the equation. These problems include: child labour and the trafficking of child workers; low pay; unsafe work conditions; extensive work hours; sexual harassment, violence, abuse and exploitation at work. These are humiliating and unjust conditions no one should ever tolerate or endure and should not form the backbone of an industry’s business model or profits.

In some countries, the legal minimum wage is lower than a realistic minimum wage resulting in a cycle of poverty. Likewise, in some countries there are restrictions on the rights of workers to organize collectively to represent their labour concerns.

The clothing and textiles industry – Environmental impacts

The burden of the fashion industry upon the environment is highly detrimental. This stems both from the farming methods that are commonly implemented in growing the necessary textile crops together with the pollution and waste that is generated throughout the lifecycle of garments.

Agricultural Chemicals

Conventional agriculture relies heavily upon pesticide use for crop production. These chemicals negatively impact human health, the environment and society.

“Pesticides are now considered by public health experts to be causing a silent pandemic through their neurodevelopmental impacts and negative effects on the health and intelligence of children (Watts 2013,Lanphear 2015).” P8 Global Governance of Hazardous Pesticides to Protect Children: Beyond 2020. Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific. January 2017.

The negative environmental impacts that pesticide usage can have include: the loss of pollinator species; disruptions to biodiversity; land and soil quality impairments; and, pesticide residue contamination of soils, water systems and food chains.

We support agricultural methods and practises that are mindful and respectful of the land, air and water resources that they impact upon and that foster and broaden genuine stewardship of local and global ecosystems.

Chemicals Used In Clothing Manufacturing – Water Use and Pollution

During the production process, the textile industries consume large volumes of water and generate large quantities of wastewater. The wastewater contains pollutants (toxic chemicals, dyes and detergents) that are released into the environment.