Primark named as least ethical clothes shop

[givemewine]

here

Just interested in views on what we as consumers can do. Fairtrade clothes are limited and expensive, and some of us can only afford Primark/George etc. Yet it seems there's a terrible cost for those producing the clothes. any thoughts?

So why not buy from charity shops, ebay, use freecycle etc exclusively? I haven't bought anything new that isn't guaranteed sweatshop free for over a year now. I made it my mission and was surprised how easy it was to do. I have 2 children 3 and 4 and I take fairtrade chocolate dubble bars in to school for when it's birthday time, I buy some (not much) school uniform from clean slate and the rest of the clothes are hand me downs, from car boots, and charity shops. And this has nothing to do with budget just the fact that I don't want to buy into sweat shops, slave labour or unfair trade. and my kids are always smart and proud that we don't buy from Asda, Tesco etc

jessia - please read my previous posts and you'll see why I don't dress my children in 2nd hand clothes (aside from hand me downs and stuff that friends/family pass on to us)

will do, just got to get my kids from school and preschool.

(Do you mean just look back at that talk/ I'm new to this so don't know how to look at peoples previous posts unless they are on that discussion)

I think it is difficult to be totally guilt free in this way and I do see QOQ's point.
For myself, I never buy sweatshop clothes, I make my own or buy from charity shops but, we are lucky enough to live near 2 charity shops that have good clothes and don't just sell fairtrade product.
The dcs are more difficult because we can't afford to buy ethical clothing but, I buy as much stuff as I can get away with for dd from NCT nearly new sales, and she's only reception age, so at the moment, not a big deal.
Ds, luckily is going through a mod phase, so most of his clothing is second hand because that's the kind of look he likes. Button down Oxfords, Levis, harrington etc. But it is time consuming tracking this stuff down at a price we can afford.
Like I say, it is easy to be smug about it (and I can be at the moment) but as dd gets older it could veer into more difficult territory and what am I going to do then?
My take on it is, to do what you can, QOQ has already said she sources her own clothes from charity shops!

ranting - correction I source my own clothes from charity shops when I can find something that fits - that doesn't make me look like a chav and isn't designed for someone that's 6ft 2 (I have some sense of style - honest LOL)....

I stand corrected! I know what you mean though, it's like a full time job finding things that you like and that fit.

More and more people are shopping in charity shops these days - the stigma is on its way out. Also, ebay has made buying secondhand popular.
I buy all clothes second hand if possible. When we are a little better off, I will buy from the fairtrade companies. I think long and hard about any new purchases.

(Jessianelly, I'm taking a chance here. I'm going to name you as one of my mates. Click on my profile and you can see pictures of my dcs. I know you, don't I? )

'So why not buy from charity shops, ebay, use freecycle etc exclusively? '

Because I live in a remote area and there are two charity shops in nearest 'town' which is about 14 miles away from here. By car - the bus stop is 3.5 miles from here and it costs £2.10 each way for the ride into town.

And I have yet to see anything worth buying in those shops, unfortunately.

I got burned BIG style by Ebay - twice, once by a buyer and once by a seller, so I don't use it anymore.

As for freecycle, once again, we'd have to drive around. It's anything but cheap.

There's a boot sale on tomorrow in a village, so we'll try there.

But once again, I reiterate, that when you live in a rural location and you come into town once a month to do a big shop - and the only shop is Tesco's and you're not well off or you have transport issues - chances are, this is where you'll buy clothes.

I don't use supermarkets except for now and again for staples myself, but for about 95% of the people who live out here, that's where they go because that's pretty much all that's on offer, particularly if you have no internet, which a lot of the elderly around here do not.

It's not about feeling guilty, taking it personally or getting annoyed about the whole thing, it's about being proud of what we do do and getting the information so that we can make truly informed choices. This way we can choose to do what suits us individually. I own an ethical, environmentally friendly and Fairtrade shop and have researched all this stuff for 2 years now, my 2 most important things are (don't get me wrong - they are all important to me but these 2 i am most passionate about) Fairtrade and animal welfare because I figure that if people have respect for living things then they might just start thinking of looking after the planet! But that's just me! I completely understand and respect people who's priority is recycling and energy efficiency, but we are all different and have different priorities. I just love being around people who are passionate about any of the Green issues as they are all linked - farm animal welfare, organic food, environmental issues, fairtrade and animal testing. Let's just pride ouselves on what we do but at the same time be open to accepting the facts and then being able to consider them.
Chris