Resources — Ethical Manufacturing RSS

With the growth of the green economy in the past decade, some companies have cottoned-on to the “feel good” factor that goes with saying their bags are made from recycled materials. While marketing teams slap high-fives and revel in another highly-profitable, customer-friendly initiative, the consumers and bag-buyers are left with an important question: who do we believe? Should more care be taken when buying reusable bags from companies who claim they use 100% recycled materials, or bags made from 100% RPET or recycled bottles? First, the facts: PET is the chemical substance Polyethylene terephthalate, commonly known as Polyester. Prefixing with an R means the polyester contains recycled content. The content can contain either pre-consumer (e.g. factory off cuts) or post-consumer...

By Bryony Moore; Tuesday 1 November 2011; guardian.co.ukProgress might be slow, and a sweat-free high street is still a long way off, but it's not all doom and gloomHow much success have campaigners had?Campaigners have been battling for an ethical fashion industry ever since the first sweatshop scandals broke back in the 1990s.  Even now, Ethical Consumer magazine's latest buyers' guide reveals that a sweat-free high street is still a long way off.Anton Marcus, joint secretary of the Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union in Sri Lanka believes the single biggest barrier to progress is access to free trade unions:\Our biggest fight is with the supplier companies who are strongly anti-union and the government

Interesting article in the Guardian with an overview on how fashion businesses can incorporate ethics, particularly sustainability, into their operations.By, Jenny Purt for the Guardian Professional NetworkWednesday 28 SeptemberWhat should the priorities be for the apparel business?• Labour conditions, water footprints, fibres and carbon.An initial step would be for companies to make a concerted effort to adopt a few fabrics that are more sustainable but which may cost 5-10% more in base price. This would cause a chain reaction in the rest of industry. As big brands source more responsible textiles for their collections, there will be a bigger volume of orders which will lower the overall manufacturing cost (and therefore retail price), making the product more accessible to the...

DOWNLOAD THE LIST BELOWWhat is SA-8000?SA-8000 is a global social accountability standard to assure decent working conditions. Its objective: to ensure ethical sourcing and production of goods and services, through providing assurance of rights of the workers involved in the production processes.SA-8000 was developed and overseen by Social Accountability International (SAI).What Does The SA-8000 Certify?Some of the SA-8000 Certicate criterias that must be met include:- No child labour- No forced labour- Total health and safety assurance- No discrimination- Working hours are a maximum of 48 hours per week- Employee freedom to join any trade unions and to organise andcollective bargaining- Prohibition of corporal punishment and mental and physical coersion- Overtime is voluntary with the maximum of 12 hours and paid...