Joel and I are really being challenged about how we live, how we spend our money and on what, and how much we are giving away, of money and of ourselves. One thing that has struck me recently is not only how we should care for the homeless, but also those who have pretty horrible jobs.
I recently started watching a documentary of six British young adults who are in India spending time with some families who work in the clothing industry. In other words, these people work in sweatshops. First, they went to the best place to work. The people who sew the collars are expected to put out one collar a minute. They aren't allowed to get out of their chairs. If they need something, they raise their hand until the floor manager comes over. They didn't say how old the girl was that worked there, but she looked about 13 or 14. The highest paying common job was the equivalent of about $2/day. A bottle of deodorant (which may or may not be important to all people groups, but the British students thought it was pretty basic) cost about $1.60. So, either eat some food or buy deodorant. And that was the best paying job. So there were people there making less. Less for ironing all day in the heat. Less for buttoning eight buttons on 100 shirts. Less for cleaning. Can you imagine?
They stayed with the families of the workers. One house had one room, the other had two rooms. Each family was between eight-ten people. Their "bathroom" was outside or a bucket in a closeted area. They cooked their food over an open fire.
After spending a few days at this "good" factory, they went to a for-real sweatshop. There the workers spend about 18 hours every day putting whole clothing items together. They sleep at the shop. Their "cafeteria" was one single gas burner. They take a shower there, if there is a shower. I'm not sure when they get to go home or when they see their families. Maybe that will be in the next episode. But just thinking about it makes me want to cry. This wasn't just some TV show. This is these peoples' lives! It is all so distant, so easy to forget.
Remember that first, so-called good factory? They make clothes for high-end stores here in the US. I'm going to bet some of those clothes are in the mall. And how much do we pay for them? Why do people think it is okay to pay $60 for a pair of jeans or $30 for a shirt when the people are being paid so little to make these? You can't tell me they aren't making a killer profit. I don't think it is wrong to make a profit. I do think it is wrong to collect $40 per item when you are paying like two cents per item to the person making it.
And that is why I am excited to tell you about this website I found. It is called Fair Indigo, and they participate in fair trade. That means they are paying people a livable wage for their work. They use a fair wage calculator put out by the World of Good Development Organization to help determine what a livable wage to each particular area is. Here is their statement about fair price or wage:
For commodities such as coffee or tea, fair trade price standards are set by international Fair Trade Labeling Organization. The price attempts to cover the cost of production and a living wage to cover the basics of food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical care. Importers and retailers are then screened and certified by TransFair USA to ensure that they are paying the Fair Trade price for products. While there currently is not a certification for crafts or apparel, businesses committed to fair trade principles focus their efforts on paying a living wage (as opposed to the legal minimum wage dominant in the industry).
You can learn all about them and their mission in their about section. It is very interesting! One thing I really like is that they have a list on a page in the about page of others who are in the same business, others helping to spread fair trade.
Looking over the clothing, the prices really aren't as expensive as you would pay in some stores in just the mall, not to mention the super high-end stores. Their sale section is super-reasonable. The children's section isn't very big, but hopefully that will grow.
The realization that I've come to is this: My children do not need six pairs of pants, 13 long-sleeved shirts and 20 short-sleeved shirts, and 10 pairs of pajamas (not to mention however many dresses!). If I put the money into just a few pieces of fair trade clothing, I would probably spend about as much as I do buying all that regular stuff from the thrift store and at sales, and I would be helping someone to live. And that is worth it. So if you start seeing my kids wearing the same three outfits all the time, don't make fun of them. This doesn't mean that I am going to totally stop buying from stores. I'll probably still shop sales and thrift stores if we need something. I also still plan on making things for them. But we are going to try to put our money towards helping people.
A lot of the fair trade stuff is organic and is made in a more sustainable way. I can hear some of you groan right now. But my thinking on organic is shaping into something like this: I do not believe in global warming. I recently read something from a "global warming expert" that while global warming is still going on, we are experiencing a cooling period. In other words, they have no idea what they are talking about. Who are we to think that we have anything to do with the climate? I believe that God is firmly in control of that area! However, I do know that air quality is not great and quickly becoming worse. I do know that more people have asthma than ever before, and it is getting worse every year. I read of a girl who had asthma, went out on a smoggy day in D.C., and died from an asthma attack from the poor air quality. That is wrong. When products are made in a "better" way, they are not adding to the problem of the air. Something does need to be done about the quality of the air, and if these companies have found a way to make products in a better way, I commend them for it.
Alright, that's all I have for now. I'll let you know if I have anything else. ;) I'm amazed if you made it the whole way through this post. Thanks for reading.
*Sigh* It is doing this outside...
1 comment:
I just looked at their stuff and I really like it! Would you be interested in ordering together so we don't have to pay as much in shipping. We would need to do this fairly quickly as the clearance necklace is one of the things I like :)
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