Category Archives: CSR

Hong Kong Textile Conference Includes Eco-Component

 

Interstoff Asia Essential Spring 2009 Seminar Program includes an eco-textile panel component. The conference runs from March 18-20th, 2009. The eco-session on the 19th asks “Can sustainability survive the global credit crunch?” The panel was co-organized with Eco Textile News.

 

Brand Session:

Harsha Vardhan, H&M and Hans Buehr, Head of Purchasing, Triumph International. The session will be moderated by Mr. John Mowbray, Editor of Eco Textile News.

 

Supplier Session:

Mr. Paul Mui, Head of Business Management Textile Chemicals East Asia, BASF (China) Co Ltd. The moderator for this session has yet to be determined.

 

The second session on March 18th, titled “Supply Chain Management, CSR and the New Classification System of Interstoff”, will feature Mr Karl Borgschulze, Systain Consulting, Hong Kong.

 

As cited here on the registration form:

 

Mr Borgschulze will introduce the latest trends in the area of CSR and supply chain management in six aspects:

  • Social aspects along the supply chain
  • Climate change and its relevance for fabric supplier
  • Sustainable reporting along the supply chain
  • The new classification system
  • The integration of existing standards into the system
  • Opportunities for exhibitors and visitors

Mr Borgschulze who has more than 20 years’ experience in international supply chain management and in ecological optimization of value chains majoring in the textile sector, is the Managing Director of Systain Consulting Asia. Mr Borgschulze was involved in the development of a number of ecological standards such as Pure Wear, bioRe® and the IVN standard, and has since 1999 been a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the German DTNW Textiles Research Centre in Krefeld. Mr Borgschulze has extensive project experience across the continent from Europe to Asia.

 

Source: Eco Textile News, Interstoff Asia Essential and Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong

Sweated Labour, Dell, Transparency and this Blog

 

The issue of transparency is an important one. So, here’s a little blogging transparency … I write Social Alterations on my ‘Made in China’ Espresso Brown Dell Inspiron 1525.

 

The National Labour Committee released a report today titled “High Tech Misery in China: The Dehumanization of Young Workers Producing Our Computer Keyboards” Sure enough, Dell is one of the companies manufacturing products in the Meitai Plastics & Electronics factory highlighted in the report in Dongguan City, Guangdong China.

 

According to the report, the base salary at the factory is 64 cents/hour. Minus room and board, workers take home 41cents/hour. Tax all in, my ‘made to order’ laptop set me back $620.48.

 

Other companies producing in the factory include Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Microsoft and IBM.

 

You can view the NLC report here

FEI Conference

 

Clean Clothes Campaign via FEI

A home worker's work bench in Belgrade, Credit: Clean Clothes Campaign via FEI

Fashioning an Ethical Industry: Putting Ethics into Practice March 11th, 2009

 

This is a one day conference that will bring together experts in ethical fashion, as well as students and tutors, to discuss the current state of the ethical fashion industry, and ways to put ethics into practice. There is no question this will be an excellent conference.

 

You can read more about this year’s conference and speakers here.

To read a report on last year’s event click here, or to listen to a podcast, click here.

Source: FEI

The nature of your garment is to fall apart?

 

 

Another interesting article taken from The Independent today, discussed some frustrations in dealing with products that not only fall apart, but are designed to fall apart.

 

Thought it might be time for another poll.




Fast fashion to blame for female consumer complaints in the UK

 

Consumer complaints in the UK surrounding poorly made clothing increased by 22% in 2008, according to this article by The Independent. The article cites a report by Consumer Direct released today. It claims that the biggest consumer complaint amongst females came from ‘defective goods’, at 34%.

 

According to the article, “[i]n the past five years, with the rise of “value” retailers, the price of clothing has fallen by as much as 25 per cent, while shoppers have bought almost 40 per cent more garments. This suggests fast fashion may be behind the increase in problem items.”

 

The article also cites statistics from another report, released by Global Cool, stating that female shoppers spent £11 billion on clothes that were never worn last year.

 

Fast fashion has created systems that cycle through clothing at a speed impossible for consumers to keep up with, and impossible to produce proper value items.

 

What an incredible waste.

green textiles not popular among shoppers

 

A recent report by The Boston Consulting Group, “Capturing the Green Advantage for Consumer Companies,” surveyed the green consumer purchasing habits of 9,000 shoppers across nine countries.

 

One section of the report showed that consumers vary their green purchases by product category (see Exhibit 6 in the report). While 14% have bought green before, but are not buying it now and 28% are buying green sometimes, 50% have never bought green. Only 8% of survey participants buy green systematically. As a result, ‘Textiles and clothing’ was listed as the third lowest category.

 

The report also states the need for companies to keep potential consumers informed with green credentials. These days, what’s in a credential anyway? The report showed that almost survey participants “reported being confused when shopping for green products and uncertain about exactly what being green means, what benefits it provides, and how to tell if a product is green” (18).

 

The full report is available in PDF here and is worth a read if you are interested in green/ing consumer habits.

ZARA and the right to freedom of association

 

A recent campaign from UNITE HERE Canada claims that the right to freedom of association is at stake for employees at ZARA, in Montréal, Quebec. According to a recent press release, “ZARA has engaged in conduct which may have violated the Québec Labour Code. This has included demoting two employees who led a union drive at ZARA’s downtown Montreal store, firing four employees who supported the union at ZARA’s Rockland Mall store, and holding anti-union meetings at three Montreal stores, in one case telling employees that joining a union is ‘treason’ against the company.”

 

Click here to view the press release.

Message from the Asian Human Rights Commission on the 60th Anniversary of UDHR

Many textile and apparel companies boast a commitment to operating within the legal frameworks of the countries in which they manufacture. It would seem only reasonable to expect as much (Congratulations! You didn’t break the law!). Considering the standard of human rights within such countries, should this fact be celebrated?

December 10th marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this video, Basil Fernando, CEO of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), highlights the issue of “non-rule of law”. According to Fernando, the last 60 years of Human Rights has only worked to establish the conversation of rights. He hopes the next 60 years will see the realization and achievement of Human Rights. On this 60th anniversary, I hope that consumers will consider the standard of the law within the countries their garments are produced, and support companies that promote international labour standards rather than those that hide behind frameworks of corrupt legal systems.

The AHRC has released their annual report on the state of human rights in 11 countries (Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand). You can download country reports here

The AHRC also works to document the countless human rights violations taking place in Asia. To receive notification of the AHRC Urgent Requests, just subscribe to their mailing list. Once you receive an urgent request, it only takes a few seconds to follow the link and send the letter of complaint they have already written for you to the appropriate individuals. You can subscribe here.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkWWWulqanQ]