Today, I'm participating in Blog Action Day, an annual event when bloggers from around the world gather to write and discuss one topic. This year’s topic is “Human Rights". As part of this campaign, I am writing as a Human Friendly Fashion Blogger as I continue to evangelize about ethical fashion.
First, let's talk about where fashion and human rights intersect. Corporations, in their quest for profit, routinely pass costs on to the environment and workers. This quest often leads to the cheapest fast fashion and the costs, while avoided almost entirely by the consumer, are paid by workers and communities in the form of poor conditions, lack of benefits, intimidation, physical abuse, child labor, health hazards, pollution, and more. Consumers become complicit in this system when they purchase fast fashion subsidized by other human beings. You can learn more about the problems in the fashion industry here.
Now, let's talk about what we can all do!
There are many non-profits and other groups working in communities and with corporations to solve the ills of the fashion industry. I wrote about seven of them here. Other campaigns pressure brands to take responsibility for these problems. For example, Ms. Wanda's Wardrobe wants corporations to invest a minimum of 1% of their profits to ensure the human rights of garment workers are properly protected. You can sign the petition here.
This petition seeks to improve working conditions for Bangladeshi garment factory workers. And this one implores fashion retailers to stop using unethical and dangerous garment manufacturers. The workers in Bangladesh have had enough and are demanding living wages, so where will retailers exploit workers next? This cycle has to stop.
Blogger Maddie Richardson brought this documentary to my attention and I want to pass it on as well. This is a Kickstarter campaign that could use your support. Read up, sign up, donate to the causes, and help make a difference.
Change will not happen without education. Educating yourself and anyone who will listen will help spread word and deed. The campaign sites above will help you get a sense of the pervasiveness of this problem. Subscribe to their newsletters, follow their Twitter feeds, and keep the issues in the forefront. Below are other Twitter feeds I recommend:
The Ethical Fashion Academy: An inspirational community dedicated to designers, consumers, and conscious lifestyle choices.
The Conscious Collective: Featuring the musings of an anthropologist, a sustainable fashion guru & an ethical fashionista on fashion, ethical lifestyles & sustainable development.
Dress Up Cycling: We'll help you kick the Fast Fashion habit & show you how Slow Fashion can make you look great, feel better & save the world.
Made in the USA Challenge: Finding American made goods that are safe, ethically made, eco-friendly and awesome.
Read Conscious Magazine instead of Vogue. Stay informed on news and trends by following blogs focused on ethical fashion, instead of consumerism. Here are the ten I recommended in a previous post, and I'd like to add a few more:
Let's Be Fair is a lifestyle and beauty blog based out of Southern California that focuses on ethically sourced, fairly traded and life impacting purchases.
Fun and well-designed, live hi up, promotes an eco-conscious lifestyle and fashion.
la leaf is an eco-system for sustainable style and the latest news and trends from local and global ecological designers. la leaf stems from our love of vegan, organic, sustainable, upcycled, recycled and fair-trade fashion.
Buy ethically and only when you truly need to. Shopping has become more of a habit than a necessity for many people, so it's first worth taking a look at your spending habits and triggers. I've slowed down my shopping considerably by asking a few questions before buying:
Once I determine I do need to buy something new, I turn to my School of Ethics to find an ethical option. For conscious consumers, production lines are opaque and corporate responsibility is sporadic. I have found it's easier to find companies that make fair trade and sustainability essential to their brand, rather than sort out which vague corporate standards are being followed. Check out these sites that do all of the ethical legwork for you! When you shop this way, you take responsibility for how you are impacting human lives and the environment.
I urge you on this, Blog Action Day, to get involved, get educated, and see where it takes your life and your choices. CLICK TO TWEET!
