The collapse of a factory in Bangladesh was headlining the news in the UK 6 months ago and today it is featured on news programs and newspapers again. It was a devastating accident, which cost the lives of more than 1100 people and I dedicate this post to those who were affected by this.
Now, I may stereotype and generalise here but I feel it necessary to get my point across.
Man is selfish, greedy and stubborn. Westerners are born into this world and brought up to believe money is our aim in life. We work to live, we need money to survive and the more money we have the better our lives will be.
Not everyone follows this path but throughout my life, be it education, work or just general living, people have expressed their belief that in order to be a success you will have a large sum of money in your bank account. I am not saying everyone thinks this, but most of the people I have been around in my life do.
The point I am making is that whilst we live it up in this country, most working an average of 40 hours a week or 8 hours a day, getting a reasonable salary (i.e. you can afford shelter and food - necessities) the people in Bangladesh are being exploited just so we can go spend our wages on clothes we do not even need. They work long hours, do not have the same health and safety environments and get paid so little.
The reason they do this is because we demand it.
We are a society that no longer questions the where, what, who, why, how and when of everything.
Where were these clothes made?
- What are the conditions like in the factories?
- What are the ethics of the manufacturing company?
- What are the working hours for staff and do they have benefits like we do?
Why are the clothes so cheap?
- How much do staff get paid?
- Where do they source the materials from?
How were they made?
- Did anyone get ill or injured in the production of these clothes?
- Again, what hours were worked by staff?
Who made these?
- Men or women?
- Children?!
I believe that we just take everything for granted nowadays. I admit that I do.
I used to go shop in Primark because it was cheap. It allowed me to buy clothes and still have money left for going out and socialising. Since turning vegan I have started to question these issues. Most people deep down think that the likes of Primark uses cheap labour and sweatshops (although they deny it how can you make clothes THAT cheap?!) but they still buy clothes from there.
I just want to get you to think about this because I really need some winter cardigans and so shopping is on my mind. I was thinking about visiting Primark but since these thoughts I have decided I will not go there again. My money will go towards ethical companies from now on. Yes, it will cost more money, but in all fairness I do not need lots of things. There is a culture of excessive buying in this country and I think cheap shops encourage it more.
So, before you go running off to the shops think "do I need new clothes or can I make do with what I have?" and "am I contributing to the abuse and exploitation of people around the world?".
Much love
Jennifer x
Great post Jennifer. Well-written X
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