I was told a while ago that we vote with our pocketbooks everyday, and if pocketbooks is to outdated a term then we vote with our debit cards everyday. This has stuck with me and I vote with my money to let big corporate giants know that I prefer fair trade, ethically sound, organic made clothing. That's not where it begins or ends. It starts with cheap labor in cotton fields in Uzbekistan where the government pulls children and teachers out of school to pick the worlds cotton. Uzbekistan is the largest producer of cotton. How could I be OK going to say a Wal-mart and buying a shirt for my daughter that I know is made with blood cotton and put it out of mind because the shirt is only $1.50. That's somebodies baby out there being denied an education because people want shirts worth nothing. But the labor, damage and violence is everything to that child. Slavery is to big of an issue to be indifferent, I don't think we have the luxury of being indifferent.
I am in no way stating I am perfect and source all of my clothing and such from ethically sound companies but when I do know of a store that's not practicing good ethics and is sourcing cotton from places like Uzbekistan I stay away like the plague. There is so much to be done and said on this topic. I am still learning about fair-trade and how to make better choices with what I buy. Its still really hard to do but what we can do is write to our favorite brands and let them know this issue is important to us. We don't want cotton and other everyday materials in our things that came off the backs of slaves. There is a section at the bottom of slavery footprint that allows you to pick your favorite brands and send them a letter.
We need to become educated consumers. Vote with our pocketbooks everyday, make your vote count. Let your voice be heard. End slavery.
No comments:
Post a Comment