Fashion Kills; Ruined Lives, Lands And Waters

 Corporations must be held responsible for their subcontractors. When it comes to clothes and textiles, all kinds of dyes and chemicals are used to color, soften and treat materials. Many of the subcontractors of large, international clothing and fashion corporations discharge their carcinogenic dyes, chemicals, and heavy metals directly into rivers and other bodies of water. Workers at many of these plants are exposed to these harmful chemicals and dyes without proper safety equipment. 

The discharge from clothing and other textile subcontractors have already poisoned rivers, drinking water sources, agricultural lands and more in countries that include Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and more. Millions of people, including children, have cancer and a host of other diseases, or will develop cancer and a host of other diseases, from the industrial poisons that clothing and textiles companies discharge into rivers and other waters. Fashion must stop killing. 

Clothing and textiles are major employers of millions of people. The few companies that properly treat their waste and do not poison the environment so that others will suffer are penalized by the higher costs incurred from doing the right thing and not discharging their industrial waste into rivers and other waters. 

It is up to the major international clothing companies that buy these products to ensure that their subcontractors do the right thing. It is not enough to expect developing countries already beset by poverty and corruption to finally stop the poisoning of their own lands. The international clothing corporations that have already made fortunes from cheap textiles and clothing materials must recognize that what might be cheap for them, and for some consumers, comes at an enormous price in terms of destroyed lands, waters and ruined health and broken bodies.

Every major clothing corporation in the world must be responsible for hiring their own staff to inspect and certify each subcontractor to ensure they properly dispose of their industrial waste, and that workers are properly protected when working with harmful materials.  

The processing of leathers, synthetic materials, cotton and much more cannot continue to be hidden industries destroying the lives of millions and the lands and waters on which they depend. Just so a few get enriched, and a lot of others can walk around feeling good about the clothes they wear. Fashion must become environmentally responsible. Corporations must be held responsible for what their subcontractors do. This must apply for all industries, not just textiles and clothes.

Multi national corporations must be held responsible for what their subcontractors do, and stop being shielded from responsibility by feigning ignorance. This applies to electronics, computers, clothes, cell phones, and much more.