Ignorance Is Bliss

Today, I went shopping for essentially the first time since making my commitment to no longer purchasing clothing that I feel is likely made through unfair labor practices.

It was seriously one of the hardest things I've done, which sounds petty and stupid but it's true.
I tried on the most perfect pair of dress pants in my perfect size, in the perfect color, with the perfect cut and length and everything. They were only $10 too. And then, I saw the tag: "Made in China". Uh oh.

I didn't jump to conclusions instantly. Just because something is made in China doesn't mean it's made under slave labor or underpaid and dangerous labor. But it's pretty likely. According to the things I've been reading from sources like Free2Work.org, China is a prominent place for unethical labor practices as laborers are highly unaware of their rights, and businesses take advantage of this. While I know of some fair trade businesses who actually make their clothes in China, I can expect that this particular store was not a fair trade business, because when I looked on the stores website about workers rights and factory policies, nothing showed up. Nothing. I googled for a good 10 minutes in that dressing room, and found absolutely nothing about this brand's policies. Yikes.
See, in my experience, good brands that use good labor talk about it. They'll put a little Fair Trade Stamp on their website, or include a small blurb about how "their products are made by people who are paid fair wages and who work in safe conditions" or they make their policies known, or they have some sort of transparency so that consumers can know that the clothes they are buying aren't costing the freedom of people half way around the globe.

But not this brand. I found nothing.

Maybe I didn't look hard enough. But I felt uncomfortable buying from this brand when I honestly had no idea who was making my clothes.

I've never looked so good in a pair of dress pants. But I've also never been so aware of the issues involved in the clothing industry. I couldn't buy them without knowing...

Then I went to a makeup store. Gah! I love makeup. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by the most beautiful makeup kit I've ever seen in my life. It had a beautiful makeup box and literally contained every kind of makeup I actually use in the colors I actually use. The box would even match my room, like it was made for me.

But then, I checked makeup on Free2Work.org, and I found out that Mica, a common ingredient in makeup, is mined by children as young as 6 all over the world. I read about the conditions they worked in--receiving very little pay, working in terribly dangerous conditions, working long hours, not receiving education, the scorpion stings and snake bites that these little boys get, just terrible stuff that goes on to mine Mica.

So with this knowledge, I scanned the ingredients of the makeup, hoping and praying that this perfect makeup kit wouldn't have Mica.

It did.

I was upset. Why do businesses have to taint their goods by using unethically obtained materials? Like if they could have not used Mica, or have somehow managed to find their own Mica mine where they took safety measures and payed people fairly, I could have purchased that most amazing makeup kit. But I couldn't. Even if I wanted to, I knew that I could never put on that eyeshadow, look at myself in the morning, put on my Dressember dress and advocate against human trafficking, and be OK with myself. I just can't.

Ignorance really is bliss. A year ago, I could buy whatever I wanted. I was advocating against human trafficking, and that was enough. But this year, I learned about the prevalence of unfair labor in the apparel industry and in many more industries, including food, coffee, and cosmetics.
It sucks.

Here's the thing. I know that my lack of purchasing a pair of $10 pants isn't going to change the world. Like it isn't. That brand is not missing my business. That store doesn't care if I skip out on that makeup kit. However, I can no longer align myself with brands that are known to have terrible workers rights policies, or are so non-transparent that I can't know how their employees overseas are treated. I can't. One of the things I've learned at TU is that as consumers, our dollars are our vote. Money talks. Money makes changes. I can't vote for slave labor. I can't vote for dangerous working conditions. I can't vote for child labor. I am simply doing what I can to stop MY contribution to human trafficking by cutting out my money that supports brands that use it.

But that's not all I'm doing. I'm making people aware of these atrocities. My hope is that, upon learning where the that the clothes they're buying and the makeup they're wearing come from, people will feel uncomfortable. Hopefully their discomfort will be an encouragement to also stop shopping at places that are known to have terrible workers rights policies. Hopefully their discomfort will help them be more conscious of the way that their consumerism can possibly be contributing to a global injustice.

And I know what you're thinking. Boycotting isn't the most effective way to end human trafficking. I know. But here's my thinking:

• I can't find peace knowingly wearing clothes that I'm pretty sure are made by slaves (or that I'm 99% sure are made by people who are not given fair pay).
• I can't give my money to businesses that are taking it for themselves and withholding it from their oversea workers who make pennies an hour.
• I can't let myself advocate for human trafficking when it's easy (on social media) but not when it's hard (passing up on cute and cheap clothes).
• The point isn't to boycott, but to hold companies accountable to fair labor and manufacturing transparency. This means that we must write to businesses* and let them know that we can not buy from businesses that use child, slave, or unethical labor.
• Purchasing from Fair Trade** businesses means a vote for freedom! When we buy Fair Trade, we are supporting businesses who pay their workers right. This means that in places of poverty or unfair labor, some people are being treated with dignity. This is awesome, because it means we are allowing people to have good, sustainable jobs in safe places; we are showing laborers that workers rights exist and that they should advocate for them; and we are proving to businesses that profit can be made without using unfair labor.

*I plan on making a post about how we can express to large companies that we can't stand with slave labor, when I find enough information. Research about things like this is scarce... Probably because companies really don't want you to know about this. :-)

**I'm also doing lots of research about cute clothing stores that are Fair Trade in some way, or who have very strong anti-slave anti-child labor policies, or who have good ratings according to Free2Work.org. I'll share resources soon! I've found some majorly cute clothes!

All this being said, sorry for bursting your bubble of ignorance. I hope it moves you to action to make changes in the way you look at clothes when you're purchasing them. Sorry not sorry if you have a hard time buying clothes for dirt cheap from stores who hide their workers policies :-)

It'll take sacrifice on our part, but we can actually change things and stop human trafficking in the apparel industry.

Also, don't stress yourself out about this. You aren't a bad person for having clothes made in sweatshops. You aren't a bad person for wearing makeup. You aren't a bad person for not really caring about human trafficking. But if you DO care about injustices and you want to make a difference, do it. Don't stop because it's hard. We can do it together.
Love Always, Karla