Comments on: Fair Trade Textiles

By: goo

goo — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:01:58 +0000

Thanks for a really thought provoking contribution Ramona.

By: ramona scott

ramona scott — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 15:52:09 +0000

The Price of Cotton
Women, sun-burned, heads wrapped up in white cloth
Men,sweat dripping down their black sun-burned backs
Their lips parched, their fingers bleeding from
The sticky weeds, bollweevils crawling all over them
Spiders biting, bees stinging, flies swarming
No rest til the sun goes down.
Overseers, atop their big brown horses,
Whips cracking the backs of anyone caught slacking.
When will it end, the men and women scream loudly
In their heads, their mouths silent, for dare they not speak.

Hot,suffocating, sweat stenched window-less rooms
Locked away in some american back-alley or some third-world country
Women crammed side by side, sewing machines whirring
Non-stop, day break to sunset, without rest.
Fingers bleeding, tubercolosis lingering in the air,
Bowl of rice and two american dollars for the day’s work.

Manhatten, Park Avenue, Bloomingdales, Banana Republic
All proudly carrying the label one hundred percent cotton
All natural fibers, made from all natural blood and sweat
Who cares as long as it looks good and drip dries?

By: goo

goo — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:24:16 +0000

Glad to be of assistance Yo Jamei!

By: yo jamei

yo jamei — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 11:48:19 +0000

So helpful for my homework xxxx

By: goo

goo — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:53:08 +0000

Thanks Nicola, I’m glad you found it too!

By: Nicola

Nicola — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:58:48 +0000

I’ve just added this post in Diig, glad i found it.

By: goo

goo — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:31:36 +0000

Hi Babita. Fairtrade textiles, just like any other fairtrade products, have to meet internationally agreed fairtrade standards to bear the fairtrade mark. The fairtrade mark is a system for alleviating poverty among disadvantaged producers and for promoting sustainable development. To find out more about fairtrade certification and the standards visit Fairtrade Foundation Standards. I hope this helps.

By: babita

babita — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:22:01 +0000

i said what is the meaning of fair trade textiles i don’t want to know about coffee or sugar .ok and do reply by tommorow

By: goo

goo — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:40:58 +0000

Quite so Bird!

By: Bird

Bird — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:36:09 +0000

The rag trade is generally as dirty as it gets, especially with the Pr*mark effect meaning that people expect to change their whole wardrobes every season for peanuts and throw away last seasons clothes without a thought. That whole way of thinking makes me shudder – if I see a top in a shop window no matter how cute it is, if it’s under a fiver I always wonder what the hell was the person who made that paid? Where did the fabric come from? Where will it end up?

I once had a great conversation with a designer who upcycled old clothes into beautiful new ones – she said she rarely ever bought clothes new for herself and her philosophy was “buy beautiful”, whether a 10p jumble sale cardigan or a designer piece. That way you love all your clothes and as you don’t want to throw them away you look after them. Ultimately it saves you more money than shopping at places like Pr*mark.

Making or mending clothes also seems to be a dying skill but there is nothing better than knitting your own beautiful wooly hat, making a cool denim skirt from some worn out old jeans or if you really have the skills, relining a beautiful old jacket with vintage fabric. We just don’t need all those new clothes.