Waterproof Trousers

Ran into the old ‘hard to be ethical at short notice’ thing again.  Needed to buy some waterproof trousers to wear this evening. (Some crazy friends of mine have entered the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race and I promised to support them with tea and food and rescue if needed.  Given that the weather report predicts wind, rain and snow, waterproof trousers seem a good idea if I’m going to be running along towpaths in the middle of the night).

Patagonia have a strong environmental policy and look at labour standards in their supply chains as well, and given time I would probably have seen whether they do waterproof trousers.  But I need to buy something now.  So it’s Blacks and Northern Rock for me today.

ETA: They’re nylon, made in Bangladesh and depressingly there is nothing on Nothern Rock’s website about either environmental or social responsibility.  Bit thumbs down.

Indian Fair Trade Shopping

Location: Mumbai, India
Shop: Karigar Fair Trade Shop.
Bought a silver ring from this shop run by Asha Handicrafts – a fair trade company working with producer groups all over India. Desperately wanted to buy more fairly traded goods – but to be brutally honest whilst the store was making a valiant attempt at being a modern retail space the product ranges generally weren’t. Even allowing for the fact it’s targeted at Indian not western consumers.

Asha are members of IFAT (the Internation Fair Trade Association) and an accredited Fair Trade Organisation

Indian Shopping

Location: Bhuj, Gujarat, India
Shop: Shrujan
Item purchased: woollen hand embroidered shawl.  Embroidered by the amazing women Shrujan works with.  The area of Kutch in Gujarat is justly famous for its handicrafts and the embroideries are stunning.  Each village has its own traditional style and Shrujan has been collecting master examples of each kind – which they now have in a gallery and travelling exhibition, 1,100 in total.  The take this exhibition round the villages to encourage and stimulate younger people to keep up the traditions.  And they re-work the traditional designs into contemporary garments.  Thus not just keeping the old traditions alive but also providing a much needed income to rural women.

Last Minute Ethics

No sooner do I start on this year of dressing ethically when I run into my first challenge. It’s hard to shop ethically at short notice.

I’m flying to India tonight for work. It’s going to be some degrees warmer there than here and I realised late yesterday I don’t appear to have the wardrobe for it. I have knee length summer skirts a plenty – but they’re not really appropriate attire for most of the places I’ll be. (Even if no-one actually stares, I feel uncomfortable walking around with bare legs when no-one else is)

Wide legged cotton or linen trousers are what I’m after. They may not be very fashion forward but they’re loose, which is good for hot weather, and formal enough for the kind of work I’m doing without being constraining.

So is there a high street store that could be considered ‘ethical’?

Well, I ended up at good old M&S. They’re member of the Ethical Trading Initiative – a multi-stakeholder forum on ethical trading issues. They have to report annually on how their suppliers are doing with regard to the ethical criteria outlined in the Base Code. They have a dedicated ethical trading team in their head office and a growing number of regional (social) compliance officers. They commission external social auditors and are involved in a number of projects with non-governmental organisations. And of course are rolling out Plan A covering a whole variety of social and environmental improvements.

And they had just the trousers.

And whilst I was in a shopping mood and because Spitalfields Market is near my nearest M&S I popped over there and came back with some screenprinted knickers from a funky young designer (supporting small business – that’s ethical right?). And a fabulous pair of organic cotton yoga trousers from Organickers.

The Beginning

I’m a consultant on ethical and fair trade.   Recently I’ve found myself more and more picking up clothes in shops and then putting them down again as I wonder where and how they’re made.  So I thought, can I put my money and my lifestyle where my mouth is?  Can I only dress ethically for a year?  So this blog is an attempt to chart that.  And to explain and define what I mean by ‘ethically’.