Zaoebi, my preference for clothes made close to where I live is about the pollution and waste of global production. You probably know that fabric is often sourced in one country, cut in another, might be sewn in a third, and possibly have finishing done yet somewhere else. Even if labor practices at each site were ideal and methods used in each place were environmentally friendly (not realistic, but even if they were), that sort of global criss-cross is problematic in itself.
But everybody has to eat, everywhere—people need work. Instead of avoiding production in non-Western countries, as I do now as a shortcut to avoiding environmental problems (which are harmful for people who live near them). I’d like to avoid supporting production in maquiladoras/export processing zones which legally are separate from the country they’re in anyway. I would like to support ethical production in underdeveloped countries and will be looking up Daughters of Ganges, thanks.
LisaP, it sounds like you’ve opened up a new world for a bunch of us with the RN/CA numbers. Thanks again. I agree with you about the “fake” labels. It’s a problem in food and entertainment too, as anyone who has ever tried to avoid Nestle knows.
Wearing fabric that’s produced in environmentally friendly ways is important to me—probably one of the biggest things I look for in sustainability. You are probably right that I should give up on trying to figure that out myself. I guess that’s what Oekotek (which I learned of through Hanna Andersson when I had a toddler) and similar certifications are for. I only recently learned that Oeko-Tex isn’t only for cotton. They have standards for silk and other fabrics too. But their focus is on the consumer, not the area of production. Are there good certification programs that look at production methods? I think Fair Trade comes close, but isn’t quite it. Whatever standard I choose, I’ll have to keep in mind Jenn’s point about big companies gaming the system.
I think I’ve told the story on here before about visiting my ex’s relatives in Ogaden with him. They took me around their farm, which had been in the family for generations—very intensive agriculture, small earthen irrigation systems, lots of inter-cropping, just amazing. But they didn’t have as many vegetables as they used to and the fruit trees were under stress because of a new cotton processing plant that we could see from the farm. It used so much water that it was lowering the water table. I’ll never have the time to sort out whether a new item I want is made from cotton that did that to an area, but I do hope that the certifications are worth something and can help reduce those kind of situations.
Rachylou, cool to hear the prospective of a small-scale company trying to compete! What advice do you have on sussing ethical practices by clothing producers that buy the “bag of flour” way? Small doesn’t always equal ethical, and many little batches of acid dumped into a watershed (or other problems that seem little by themselves) do add up. Small companies might not be able to do all the steps required for certification, but if they use sustainably-produced materials, that’s who I want to support. “Overseas” isn’t always “overseas”. I’m thinking about the maquiladoras/Free Trade Zones like the ones that were finishing things for Tommy Hillfiger and Hanes in Jamaica.
Bijou, the little bit I know about global production (learned while teaching Uni geography courses in the early 2000s, so somewhat dated) makes me doubt that Australia could have a separate system, even though I’ve learned on YLF that the designers and labels can be local. If you look at some RN/CA labels in your clothes, I’d love to hear what you find.
