Editorial: How Green Is Our Clothing?

3 pages, published in Issue 132, November-December 2007   Report price: Euro 275.00; US$ 365.00

The public’s awareness of poor working conditions and environmentally unfriendly industrial production methods has risen in leaps and bounds in recent years.

Adverse publicity about so-called sweat shops in developing countries has forced major retailers and high profile brand companies to investigate and carry out inspections in the factories which manufacture the products they procure.

Also, such publicity and the responses of companies have led to the formation of organisations such as WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production), which describes itself as an “independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to the certification of lawful, humane and ethical manufacturing throughout the world”.

Having such a certification body is especially important in the clothing sector. Because a large amount of garment production is subcontracted to small workshops, many retailers do not know where their goods are being made—let alone inspect factories to ensure that the latter comply with their environmental and ethical standards.

As far as environmental issues are concerned, there has been some progress. This is reflected in the plethora of eco-labels which are now available, including the EU Eco-label and the Öko-Tex Standard 100

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