The new Mango Collection

Great website, Keith! Thanks for the link.

Here’s what I’m thinking, though: While critiques of the system bring awareness of the sweatshop industries and the gross violations of human rights which they pose, what are our immediately accessible alternatives, as consumers? I’m not saying that the critiques of and the campaigns against this system do not serve a purpose. They definitely do. But what I’m suggesting is the need for additional or complimentary campaigns which are focused upon making consumers aware of precisely what there alternatives are. I searched the website, only briefly, but found nothing which addressed this aspect of the problem.

There is no doubt that, due to such campaigns, there is increasing public awareness and concern over these issues. However, while many consumers might like to make a change in their buying habits and are willing to forego purchases from the offenders, they remain unaware of how to search out alternatives and how to assess whether or not what they are buying is, in fact, produced in a sweat shop environment. Say, for example, they are willing to boycott the offenders; how do they know who they SHOULD BE purchasing their goods from?

I read one comment on the website which stated, “Real change can only be achieved through government regulation that protects the rights of workers supplying UK companies.” While I agree with this statement, in part, what I do not agree with is that this is the ONLY WAY. It seems to me that regulation is only part of the solution. The second part of the solution is to educate consumers on what their alternatives really are, so that they CAN change their buying habits. In today’s highly consumerist society, people cast their votes not only at the ballot box, but also at the cash register – money (i.e. sales) often speak louder than laws. As long as there is a market for these “dirty” goods and the producers have economic power (via their enormous sales), the wheels of the machine will continue to turn. So, while petitions for changes in regulation can be effective, they are not necessarily AS effective as changing the buying habits of consumers.

So, what are the alternatives? Pretend that you are addressing someone who has an empty closet and who needs to go out tomorrow and purchase some clothes: Where would you tell this person to go to shop? What brands would you suggest that they buy? What would you tell them to look for to determine whether or not the goods they are considering are produced in sweat shops? As we all know, it’s not like you can walk into a store and pick up a shirt and read on the label “THIS GARMENT WAS PRODUCED IN A SWEAT SHOP.” So, how can one tell? Further, pretend that this consumer does not live in a major metropolitan city and does not have access to internet purchasing (as this is, in fact, the real-world situation of many consumers) – they cannot simply run out to one of these new shops that advertises itself as “clean” of human-rights violations.

I hope you see the point I’m making – I think there is a step which is missing in the proposed solution. That step is consumer education on viable and READILY accessible alternatives.

Thanks again!

Sincerely,
Savita

Sang-ayon ako, sana mayroon na nito dito sa Pilipinas (I agree, I wish we had them here in the Philippines).

I am slightly taller than the average Filipino, and I’m very thin. Mango’s clothes are the ones that fit me best.