*confused face*
Monday, April 22, 2013A while ago I wrote about Measure Up, I was so pleased to find an easy reference guide to high street brands and their ethical practices that I had to share it.
Then today this tweet caught my eye, I clicked through to the Refinery 29 article and found that Zara, who on the Measure Up website seemed one of the better brands are deemed less so in the Refinery 29 article. Whilst they do use ethical fabrics and care for the environment, it's reported that their treatment of workers is pretty poor.
This is what it said;
'Despite this, there has been some controversy over how Zara treats its employees. According to the Daily Mail,
factory workers, some of them children, “were made to work up to
16-hour days without breaks and were prevented from leaving the
factories without permission.” And in Buenos Aires, claims were made
that workers clocked in at 7 a.m. and didn’t leave the factory until 11
p.m. routinely from Monday to Saturday. No breaks.' Source
There are a number of brands listed, but I picked out Zara as a brand I would potentially buy. It makes me wonder how often the details on Measure Up were updated - maybe I'm referencing out of date info? *sighs*
I shop on the high street and I find it so frustrating that I can't find reliable information. 'Green' brands don't offer the variety and you can only rely on pre loved fashion so much.
I don't want to wear clothes made by children working 16 hour shifts.
8 comments
It is so hard to find out any reputable information on the ethics of most high street brands :(
ReplyDeleteI'd love to strike a balance between buying high street, second hand and ethical brands. I'd support any high street brand over another if I knew it was ethical but the info is so confusing, even avoiding cheaper shops doesn't guarantee ethical practices...
DeleteThat is pretty shocking. I suppose suppliers, factories and materials will always be chopping and changing so maybe the data does go out of date pretty fast. I would have expected better from Zara though.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? The thing is Zara are doing well in the 'green' stakes but worker care seems to leave a lot to be desired, such a shame.
DeleteI am really surprised at Zara...expected it from Primark not Zara x
ReplyDeleteI agree it is so difficult to know what to think, there seems to be so much conflicting info about sustainability and ethics on the high street and I expect that we don't really know the half of it. I tend to think that if clothes are very cheap, then there is probably not much chance that they could have been ethically manufactured. But that isn't to say that paying more guarantees ethics either.
ReplyDeleteIt's folks such as yourself Ceri that help to bring these issues to the fore. I love your blogs!
DeleteHi Hazel
ReplyDeleteI did reply to your comment on my blog but just in case you did not see it I thought I would leave you a comment on here too. :)
Sally Hansen is brilliant in my opinion but do not buy the Deep Glow...its orange! The best is medium glow or the one I have is tan glow. I like tan glow as its dark but not orange but I think next time I buy one I am going to get medium as I think its a bit more natural x
Thank you for taking the time to comment x