Changing how you think about clothes

This TEDx talk from Fair Trade USA's Heather Franzese is timely - right on topic with what we've been thinking about this month: Every Purchase Matters.

What are you wearing? Where was it made? "Made" probably makes you think "stitched," but what happened before that? Where did the fabric come from? Did your shirt start on a farm -- as a cotton plant, sheep's wool, a silkworm, petroleum, or a recycled plastic water bottle? These questions matter. Why is it that we can walk into a grocery store and make all kinds of choices about how our food is made and what's in it, but we can't make any of those same choices about clothing?



About Heather Franzese, senior manager at Fair Trade USA:
Heather has been working for more than 12 years to improve the lives of vulnerable farmers and workers in global supply chains. Last year, she launched Fair Trade USA's Fair Trade Certified™ Apparel & Linens program in the U.S. Heather brings together industry experience managing CSR for Columbia Sportswear Company's licensed and collegiate categories, a fundraising track record of channeling $4 million in social impact philanthropy to Fair Trade certification, and field experience working with small-scale farmers for the Peace Corps in Mali.

Developing Transparent Relationships

What are you wearing? The tag on your shirt might say "Made in Bangladesh" or "Made in China," but what does it mean? Who actually made it? What is their life like? When you shop, does it make you responsible for the way in which the worker is treated? Or how the factory treats the environment? What role does the consumer play?

 What does it mean?

I never asked myself these questions until I started One Mango Tree. When we began working on our organic apparel line, I toured LAP Textiles, a large (now closed) apparel manufacturing facility in Kampala's industrial area. The factory was clean - it didn't match up with the idea of a "sweatshop" that I'd had in my mind. The sewing operators were almost entirely women - at that point in time, there were 300 women working at LAP, and they were stitching button-down shirts for EDUN, the clothing line started by Bono and his wife Ali Hewson.

What gave me pause during that visit was learning that sewing operators at LAP Textiles made 90,000 Ugandan shillings per month. At the time, that was equivalent to $45. Sure, these women had jobs, but how much could they buy with $45 per month? Not much.

What about other factories, where dangerous toxic chemicals are discharged into rivers? Or where women workers are raped, tortured and abused? Or where toxic chemicals emitted from clothing actually cause workers to pass out?

Producers and factories are responsible for their labor and environmental practices, but we think consumers are responsible too. In a way, shopping is like voting - every dollar you spend is placing a vote.

The second principle of fair trade is about transparency and accountability:

Develop transparent and accountable relationships.

The Fair Trade Federation defines this principle further:

Fair trade involves relationships that are open, fair, consistent, and respectful. Members show consideration for both customers and producers by sharing information about the entire trading chain through honest and proactive communication. They create mechanisms to help customers and producers feel actively involved in the trading chain. If problems arise, members work cooperatively with fair trade partners and other organizations to implement solutions.

For One Mango Tree, this transparency and accountability is the foundation of what we do. From paying our workers a fair wage to sharing the details of our supply chain with our customers, we build this principle into our model. We strive to build a better workplace for our staff in Uganda - ensuring fair wages, providing child care and respectful leave policies, and trainings on financial literacy and savings. Our producers organize to determine their own labor rates. We strive to educate our customers on our processes and help them learn to make more conscious buying decisions.

We also bring you a face with each product by including a signature from each woman on the hangtag of a completed product. You can go online and see this woman - once you see the producer behind your purse or your t-shirt, you'll find yourself asking that very important question:

What am I wearing?

We need more active consumers to make big changes in our world. Want to learn more? Here are a few good places to start - 
Follow us on twitter @onemangotree for daily updates on these issues and more

The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli
Slow Fashioned - check out the blog & take the Slow Fashioned Pledge
Read Ethical Consumer's Shopping Guide to see how designer brands measure up

This post is part of a series about Fair Trade Federation's Nine Fair Trade Principles. The series was inspired by Using Fair Trade Principles to Empower Women in Uganda, a talk given at the Library of Congress by One Mango Tree's founder in November 2010. You can watch the video here.