Ethical Production & Purchasing

Day 4: RESEARCH YOUR FAVOURITE BRAND

Chances are decent that your clothing was made under less than ideal working conditions. But what is the likelihood that enslaved people made your tee-shirt or jeans? Slave-made products are actually a relatively small proportion of the global market. As such, we can’t simply boycott products from any given country, but instead we must address industry-specific concerns.

Fashion Revolution is an organization calling for a fairer, safer, cleaner, and more transparent fashion industry. They were born after a garment factory collapsed in Rana Plaza, Bangladesh in 2013, killing 1,138 people and injuring another 2,500—mostly young women. In their honor, we are supporting Fashion Revolution Week. Watch Fashion Revolution’s video of a social experiment involving 2-euro tee-shirts. Will people buy a cheap product if they know the human cost behind it?

Then look up the KnowTheChain apparel and footwear benchmarks. (They also have benchmarks for food & beverage and communications technologies.) Do you have any clothing by these brands? If so, look up their track record. Optionally, let your favorite companies know you want them to keep their supply chains free of enslavement. Write them an email or letter or tweet at them using this guide. Don’t forget to thank companies that have made strides to do so! After you’ve done so, be sure to tell us you’ve completed today’s challenge.

Discuss below what efforts do you make to be a more ethical consumer. Share ideas on how to ensure your next clothing purchase is a slave-free purchase.

Don’t forget to let us know you will take action by clicking or tapping the ACCEPT CHALLENGE button on this page. If you missed any of our previous Freedom Fortnight challenges you can still take action here.

EXTRA CREDIT: Check out Fashion Revolution’s brand new video for Fashion Revolution Week 2018 or visit Fashion Revolution’s “Take Action” page for wording you can use to ask your favorite brand “Who Made My Clothes?” via email, twitter or instagram.