Ever looked at where your T-shirt was made? Considered what misery may have gone into the production of that new jumper or pair of jeans? And what of the environmental or health consequences of unethical fashion?

We all want to look our best, but at what cost? With more and more allegations of sweat labor being levied at high street fashion companies, itâ??s hard to know who the good guys (and gals) are.

child labor sweatshop

Choosing ethical fashion should first include sweatshop-free clothing. Those who suffer most in the production of most clothing are developing countries. According to Behind the Label, as little as 0.04 percent of the total cost of a garment will go to labour. The accusations made against sweatshops include:

• Extremely low wages that many suspect are insufficient for individual survival.
• Physical and sexual abuse, and forcing young women to abort babies to keep them working.
• Forcing children and adults alike to work very long hours in unhealthy working conditions.
• Failure to offer health care, child care, and other benefits to employees.
• Squashing strikes and the formation of unions by firing anyone inciting such activities.

Then you also want to look for something thatâ??s healthy for you. Chemical dyes used in many traditional textiles can contain heavy metals like copper, zinc, and chrome, all of which are suspected carcinogens. And then, of course, these dyes are often tested on animals to ensure their â??safetyâ?� for humans. Looking for eco-friendly dyed clothing ensures youâ??re safe from unhealthy, cruel clothing. Low-impact dyes (such as fibre-reactive dyes and plant-based dyes) and â??colour-grownâ?� fibres are both good alternatives.

Opting for organic, natural textiles is also a good choice. Conventionally-grown cotton is the worldâ??s most pesticide-intensive crop and requires a lot of water, too. Wool, on the other hand, can be sheared from cruelly-treated sheep. And synthetics like polyester, lycra, spandex, and the like are all made from petroleum byproducts, making them inherently unsustainable. Better options include organic cotton, bamboo, soy, hemp, and other natural fibres, which are now used to produce all types of garments.

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Leather and environmental issues

I’m sitting here in my leather office chair and in my leather workboots with my leather wallet in my back pocket - comfy chair, Internet, comfy boots; what more could a guy want aside from a never-ending pizza?

I started thinking more about leather the other day after seeing the most horrible video of an animal that was skinned alive for the fur/skin trade.

I can’t relay in mere words how horrific it was to see this animal after the process - the poor creature seemed fully conscious and the look on its face was just incredibly heartbreaking. Without its skin, I couldn’t even recognize what sort of animal it was. It looked so forlorn, confused and in so much pain, I nearly cried.

It’s incidents like these that really make me question the concept of we humans as evolved and “superior” beings.

The practices of some in the fur and skin trade have gained a lot of media coverage to the point that wearing of fur as a fashion statement is generally frowned upon these days.

Leather is another story - I guess that most of us like to think that the leather goods we buy - shoes, furnishing, clothing, bags etc. - have come from animals that have been humanely slaughtered and that the leather is more of a by-product rather than the focus; i.e. from animals used for meat.

Even if that is the case, and the term “humane” when it comes to slaughter is subject to a lot of controversy, what about the other environmental impacts from our desire for leather?

Leather’s chemical cocktail

As leather is basically just skin, the base component (rawhide) is fully biodegradable. Without some form of treatment, known as tanning, it would simply fall apart.

Back in the old, old days, smoke was often used to cure leather as were vegetable tannins, salt, urine and animal faeces or animal brains - it was a rather smelly and messy affair, so most tanneries were situated outside towns.

These days, here’s how most tanning occurs:

- Hides are first prepared by by curing them with salt

- The hides are then soaked in clean water to remove the salt

- The hides are treated with one or more of the following as part of the de-hairing process:

* Sodium sulfide
* Sodium hydroxide
* Sodium hydrosulfite
* Arsenic sulfide
* Calcium hydrosulfide
* Dimethyl amine
* Sodium sulphydrate

- Once the hair is removed, the hides are then treated with a mixture salt and sulphuric acid if mineral tanning is to be done.

- The hides are soaked in water once again and biocides such as pentachlorophenol may be used to prevent bacterial growth.

- Tanning can be performed, and usually this is via mineral methods that uses chromium in the form of basic chromium sulfate

Modern tanning is still a messy and smelly affair with a ton of extra energy, water and toxic chemicals thrown in. The process is so toxic that many old tannery sites cannot be used for agriculture. Tanneries not only often poison the land they are situated on, but also the waterways into which they discharge effluent.

Given all that, I’m left wondering if modern leather tanning processes are just as environmentally damaging as some of the plastics we use in clothing and furnishings such as polyester and nylon.

Imported leather

But surely if the toxicity of the process is well known, our governments have taken steps to address it, right? Yes, that’s often the case in places like the USA, Australia, Canada and the UK - but here’s a quote in regards to a tannery in Australia fined for environmental issues that sums up where the problem lies:

“…told the court the business would not operate as a tannery in the future, but would move to importing sheepskins”

Our desire for cheap leather coupled with tightening local government regulations is not solving the problem, but simply moving the environmental issues overseas to countries where controls are more lax - not only on the pollution side of things, but in relation to animal welfare.

So, even if the boots or coat you buy says “Made in Australia” or “Made in the USA”; there’s a very real possibility that the actual leather used in the product was imported from overseas.

So what’s a leather lover to do?

Firstly, we need to look at our consumption - do we really need 10 pairs of leather shoes, 5 wallets or 8 handbags? Every leather item you don’t buy mean less toxic waste entering into the environment and perhaps an animal not killed - you’ll save some cash as well.

We can also reduce our associated impact by asking companies where they source their leather - if it’s outside “developed” countries, assume the worst.

Additionally, if you’re prepared to spend a few more bucks, consider organic leather. Organic leather comes from animals that have been raised and slaughtered humanely and the tanning uses more environmentally friendly processes such as smoke and plant based tannins. You can find these products simply by typing: organic leather X into your favorite search engine, where X is the type of product you are wanting.

Leather alternatives

After you watch a few videos and read a bit more about the treatment of animals destined to become leather products, it does tend to work away at your conscience; but the alternatives also present a minefield for the environmentally conscious consumer.

You could just turn your back on leather altogether, but so many of our fabrics are petro-chemical based or use incredibly environmentally destructive and energy intensive processes.

This is where we need to start looking more towards organic cotton, soy, hemp, bamboo and other forms of organic clothing. Most of these are still terribly expensive and I must admit I’m guilty of leaning towards cheaper and very non-green clothes - even if I do manage to squeeze a decade out of a t-shirt :). It’s a habit I’m trying to kick.

If you just love the look and feel of leather, consider pleather, which is just a slang term for synthetic leather made out of plastic; but just be aware of the associated impacts - not all pleather is created equal and some plastics will be worse than others. These range from calico coated with boiled linseed oil mixed with dryers and pigments to fabric bases coated with plastic, to 100% plastic substitutes.

Unfortunately for the leather lover - it’s a case of abstinence or choosing the lesser of the environmental and humanitarian “evils”; but a reduction in impact is certainly better than taking no action at all.

Article written by Michael Bloch of Green Living Tips.com

Michael has been active in green business for 6 years and currently work for an Australian company that sells solar and wind power equipment energymatters

Flickr image by Barnaby

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£15 off and 10% discount voucher codes for green clothing label Gossypium

I stumbled over this and thought it might come in handy to readers, its a £15 discount for ethical clothing store Gossypium. The store sells a wonderful range of fairtrade, organic clothing for Men, Women and children. After reading all the awful things about GAP high street and even M&S this brought me a little sigh of relief.. “I can buy jeans!”

Simply note down the voucher codes click on the images to go to the site or type it into the address bar and enjoy the discounts.

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The petrol crisis in the UK appears to have dialled down, for now, but when I stumbled upon this cartoon, I laughed out loud.

This drawing almost perfectly maps the pattern of my reaction to the rising price of petrol in particular, and that of my eco-anxieties in general:

PANIC

ENNUI

INCREDULOUSNESS

CONSPIRACY THEORY

EXISTENTIAL CRISIS

SLOW DOWN!

I’m hoping that my laughter is a sign of mental health rather than an indicator of lunacy.

I haven’t had a lot of time to look more at this this site, but I’ll be going back for more and I recommend that you do likewise!

Check it out!