Impact of Ethical Fashion

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The clothing industry is the second largest polluter in the world, second to oil and we must do something about it. The way in which our clothes are made and transported is effecting climate change in many more ways than we are all aware of. I am a huge animal lover and to find out that the way clothes are being made has effected and still is effecting the animals and their habitats is upsetting. Chemical waste is dumped directly into water systems, such as rivers which is polluting them resulting in Fish stocks killed off. As well as the rivers being polluted the oceans are too which is effecting many other animals. If this carries on then there will no longer be life within the oceans. The animals will die and the beautiful corals and plants will follow. To think this is happening to this very day because factories have not found another way to efficiently discard of the waste or recycle it is appalling.

The transportation of the clothes from country to country is massively effecting climate change. On average via cargo ships stock from the fair east takes 4-5 weeks to travel across the globe. The Planes are hugely polluting, however they are the only modes of transportation when the clothes need to be sent over here from the developing countries. Clothing companies and brands have their clothes produced in the developing countries across the world because of many different reasons. For starters it is a lot cheaper, there is no such thing as a minimum wage, workers rights, healthcare and free education in these countries. This is completely against their human rights. Factories would rather employ Women and Children because they’re easily controlled, Men are paid less than £1 an hour however Women and Children are paid less than 50p an hour, below their own living wage. I do not understand how big high street shops like Primark for example choose to have their clothes made in these factories which allow these horrendous working conditions, all for the sake of the production of clothes being a lot cheaper. I believe that the children should still be in school and the adults can work in the factory however in improved working conditions as well as a fair pay, now below their own living wage.

These are problems that can be stopped by; checking on the COO (Country of origin) Label if it is not stated on there then DO NOT buy it. That means the manufacturer does not want it on the label meaning it was produced in really bad working conditions in a developing country. In addition to that look out for Fair Trade logos, this means that what you are buying is sold and made for a good price, the workers receive a good fair pay for their work, they work in the correct working conditions and have local sustainability. DO NOT throw away clothes in the bin, they are thrown into landfill which is not biodegradable, landfill sites are expanding. Two million tonnes of textiles in the UK each year are thrown away. Textiles have become the fastest growing waste product in the UK. To stop this, give your own clothes to family, friends, charities or reuse them.

When I am selecting fabrics for my collections I like to know what the fabric is made up of, when it comes to cotton I will go for the organic cotton over the standard cotton fabric. Things like this will really help, you may only be doing something you think is little by picking the organic cotton but if everyone else follows suit then it will help dramatically over time. When I start to make more clothes and design more collections I will now think about what fabrics I am using, how they have been made and what I can do to make sure I am making and producing these clothes in the most economical way possible. After researching a lot more into Ethical Fashion I am a lot more knowledgeable on the area and now understand that we can do things to help and this is something I want to pursue when I become a designer myself.

There are many ways that we can all start to make an impact and to stop these horrendous things happening all over the world, act now and stand up to what you believe.

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