Kmart, Target, Cotton On and Big W - protect the workers making your clothes
More than 30 companies have agreed to help improve conditions for workers in Bangladesh, but Cotton On, Kmart, Target and Big W are yet to sign on to the Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord. Sign Oxfam's petition and tell these retailers that you care about the people who make your clothes!
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Silk - what you don't know probably won't upset you
On my various travels, in Europe and more recently, Vietnam, I've picked up a few beautiful silk scarves over the years. Yesterday by chance I happened to google how silk is made. Although I've been to a silk factory in Lyon, I never really understood the scientific process of how silkworms produce this luxurious fabric. I was... astonished, angry and saddened to learn that I can add silk to a long list of things like many household products, cosmetics, fur, cage eggs, etc that I no longer wish to buy.
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The Clean Clothes Campaign
I signed the petition after a confronting photo from last months factory collapse in Bangladesh did the rounds on Facebook. I shared the picture on my profile and since then 36 of my friends have signed the petition as well. If you believe that the working conditions inside Bangladesh factories have to change, then you too can jump onto the Clean Clothes Campaign website and add your signature.
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No sweat! Sweatshop-free shopping
If you want to ensure that you’re avoiding buying clothes made with sweatshop labour, a number of Australian companies are accredited with Ethical Clothing Australia and with Fairtrade. You can find lists of brands on their websites. But if you can’t find what you’re looking for, or what you need for work, then what?
Second hand, or op shopping, has long been a go-to option for thrifty and ethical shopping. You’re guaranteed a bargain at your local Vinnies, Salvos or Red Cross shop, or pay a little bit more for a real gem at one of many vintage stores, where you’re effectively paying for someone else to do the treasure hunting for you. This week, however, I decided to have a crack at second hand shopping online, on old faithful Gumtree.
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Beauty without bunnies
A large number of big cosmetic brands are failing to inform customers that their products are being tested on animals in China. A recent investigation revealed that manufacturer’s websites, packaging or sales staff were often failing to inform Australian consumers that their products were being tested on animals in China, where mandatory skin and eye irritations tests are conducted on animals before products can be sold. These tests are paid for by the manufactures.
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Clean clothes and garment guilt
You may have read news articles about the recent factory collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in which hundreds of garment workers died. It is important to ask: if consumers didn’t demand so much cheap clothing, would factory workers be working in such poor conditions?
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Support small-scale farmers to combat global inequality
Why is it important to support small-scale farmers? The short answer is because if we don’t, we perpetuate the unequal distribution of resources and the existence of global inequality. Sounds like heavy stuff? It is, but it’s also important to be aware of the global food production system.
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Hope is contagious, pass it on!
Band4Hope all began when entrepreneurs Lachlan McWilliam and Lucie Galt were navigating the African hinterlands in search of opportunities to help local communities through trade. In Harare, Zimbabwe, they stumbled across a small business that produced and sold copper and zinc wristbands believed to contain empowering properties.
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The Indigenous Runway
The fashion world is set to be captivated this coming weekend by the largest gathering of Indigenous designers and models ever to grace the runway and steal the show at this year’s L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.
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Biddy Bags
Samantha Jockel unknowingly set the wheels in motion for Biddy Bags in 2007 when, unable to pull off a knitting design she dreamt up herself, she recruited the help of her grandmother and elderly neighbor.
Biddy Bags has since expanded into a social enterprise boutique catering to the recent resurgence of ‘nanna chic’ through bespoke designs for handbags, tea cosies, washcloths and iPouches.
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