Mahret and Kathrin of
Two for Fashion have called on fellow bloggers to participate in the Green Glamour blog parade and today's "Thoughts about fair trade" is part of my contribution. These days organic anything is all the rage: food, cosmetics, furniture, clothes - a lot of products can be bought in a "green" version. But what does it actually mean when you buy organic cotton?
Organic cotton is grown without the use pesticides. Conventional methods of cotton cultivation use a lot of pesticides which are harmful to the people who grow cotton (btw, coffee crops and tobacco are big offenders too).
"The World Health Organisation and the UN Environment Programme estimate that each year, 3 million workers in agriculture in the developing world experience severe poisoning from pesticides, about 18,000 of whom die. According to one study, as many as 25 million workers in developing countries may suffer mild pesticide poisoning yearly."So it's a good thing that fashion made with organic cotton is finally getting some lovin' from the mainstream media. However, fashion editors shouldn't stop at promoting organic cotton but also point out the circumstances under which high street fashion is produced maybe in a mix and match sweatshop and fair trade spread (though that probably wouldn't fly so well with ad customers). I have looked at many editorials on "green" fashion in the past months and most journalists seem to equate organic with fair production methods. It is true that organic cotton farmers receive better prices for their product but what about the dressmakers of that organic cotton t-shirt from any high street fashion label that has introduced a "green" line? Are they getting paid a fair wage for their labour?
I know that checking all the boxes (is it organic? was it made under fair conditions? was it made with eco-friendly methods - using as little energy as possible and as little chemicals as possible?) can be quite tiresome but if you look at it as a challenge rather than a chore shopping can still be as much fun as it used to be before you knew about the dark side of fashion.
Etwas spät dran mit der Übersetzung aber jetzt: Hier der erste Teil meines Beitrags zur Green Glamour Blog Parade in Form eines "Gedanken zu Fair Trade" Posts. Im Moment ist Öko dies und das schwer angesagt: Lebensmittel, Kosmetik, Möbel, Kleidung - viele Produkte können auch in einer "grünen" Version gekauft werden. Was aber bedeutet Bio-Baumwolle eigentlich?
Bio-Baumwolle wird ohne Pestizide angebaut. Konventionelle Methoden des Baumwoll-Anbaus benötigen viele Pestizide, die den Menschen die die Baumwollfelder bestellen großen Schaden zufügen können (Kaffee- und Tabakanbau benötigen neben dem Baumwollanbau die meisten Pestizide). Die WHO und das UN Umweltprogramm schätzen, dass jedes Jahr 3 Millionen Landwirtschaftsarbeiter in der "Dritten" Welt schwere Vergiftungen durch Pestizide erleiden und 18000 von ihnen durch diese Vergiftungen sterben.
Es ist also sehr erfreulich, dass Mode aus Bio-Baumwolle gerade von den Mainstream-Medien entdeckt und gehypt wird. Allerdings wäre es gut, wenn die Moderedakteurinnen nicht nur die Bio-Baumwolle loben würden, sondern auch die Arbeitsbedingungen beleuchten unter denen die meisten Modeketten ihre Kleidung herstellen lassen (die Anzeigenkunden fänden es wahrscheinlich weniger gut). Zu oft wird Öko- oder Bio- mit Fair Trade gleichgesetzt. Für Bio-Baumwolle wird ein besserer Preis gezahlt als für konventionell angebaute Baumwolle aber Bio- allein reicht nicht.
Ich weiß, dass es sehr anstrengend sein kann, an seine Neuerwerbungen alle möglichen Anforderungen zu stellen (aus Bio-Baumwolle? unter fairen Bedingungen hergestellt? möglichst umweltfreundlich produziert - unter geringstmöglichem Energieverbrauch und mit so wenig Chemikalien wie möglich?). Wenn man das Ganze als Herausforderung sieht statt als Zumutung kann Shoppen allerdings genauso viel Spaß machen, wie zu den Zeiten, da wir noch nichts über die dunkle Seite der Mode wußten.
Armor Lux is a French company that still produces their entire range in France. Most famous for their Breton shirts the label also offers a nice capsule collection of casual ready-to-wear pieces. In 2005 they started selling clothes made of certified fair trade cotton. "Armor Lux represents today : a 70 year-experience, 640 employees, 3 factories, a Network of 30 boutiques and the 3 values : quality, tradition and ethics." The clothes are at the moment only sold in France, unfortunately. They have a flagshipstore in Paris - yet another reason to visit the city. Sale items are shipped internationally via www.finsdeseries.armorlux.com
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