EcoZeal

What is ethical fashion, why is it important, and why are we just hearing about it now?

Most clothing available in stores today is produced in an unethical manner using sweatshop and/or child labour to ensure a larger profit margin.

Manufacturers use unsustainable fabrics like non-organic cotton (dubbed as natural, it accounts for almost 25% of all pesticide use) and polyester (which is a petroleum by-product).

They use conventional dying practices which release chlorine, chromium, and other pollutants into the environment posing a health risk to the farmers, assemblers and wearers (7 of the top 15 pesticides used on conventional US cotton crops are “possible” to “known” human carcinogens).

The shift to ethical production practices in the clothing industry has been undeniably important for a long time making the market ripe for a positive change. Consumers are starting to demand better.

Ethical fashion is produced using fairly-paid and fairly-treated adult workers, sustainable fabrics and materials like organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, and reclaimed or recycled materials, low-impact fiber-reactive dyes or vegetable dyes, and respect for a healthy environment and/or product for the farmer, the assembler, and the wearer of the clothing.

Simple measures can be taken to achieve big changes by simply switching our buying patterns to include products made of low impact materials.

Positive pressure on businesses who have yet to volutarily clean up their acts is very easily applied by simply choosing not to spend money on their products, and helping – little by little – to grow the businesses who have made an explicit commitment to responsible business practice.

The wonderful thing about the booming ethical fashion industry is the huge variety of designs, colours, cuts, fabrics and sizes now available. Long stigmatized as cousin to the burlap sack, the ethical offerings today are design-oriented.

Designers with heart are creating beautiful, sexy, edgy, classic, current, imaginative, and, yes, flattering pieces – ethics will simply not be compromised and thankfully neither will the look and feel of their work. Reducing our footprint can be done without making any sacrifices.

Source: Ethical Fashion Addicter