When choosing clothing, we usually think about style and price. We rarely think about where the item is made, who has made it and whether they were treated fairly, or whether the manufacturing process used is clean or polluting.
In other words, we generally ignore the environmental or social costs that add to the 'true' cost of manufacturing. That bill is left for future generations and governments in environmental clean-up, health care and other support.
But should we be buying in abundance without knowing how our clothes are made and the damage they do in the process? Should we not look for labelling that tells us our clothing is produced fairly and without damage?
Chances are, that T-shirt or pair of jeans we covet comes with a 'Made in China' tag. Last year, the European Union purchased 22 per cent of all textile and clothing exports from China, according to the China National Textile and Apparel Council, while 41 per cent of US imports last year came from China. But many of these clothes are highly polluting to produce at the low cost-point. According to the World Bank, 17 to 20 per cent of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment.
In a report released late last year, Greenpeace detailed testing in two textile towns in Guangdong province: Xintang, the 'jeans capital of the world', and Gurao, a town with 80 per cent of its economy devoted to the manufacture of bras, underwear and other clothing.
Greenpeace found five heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead and copper) in 17 out of 21 water and sediment samples taken from Xintang and Gurao. In one sample, cadmium exceeded China's national limits by 128 times.
Xintang produces over 260 million pairs of jeans every year, equivalent to 60 per cent of China's total denim production.
