It’s neither one hour before bed nor one hour after, and I’m wearing pajamas. I realize that this is totally unacceptable.

Like drinking alcohol before noon, wearing pajamas after noon is a sign that you have a problem.

I have a problem.

Or do I? Maybe it’s these darn social norms, these social sensibilities regarding fashion, that are the problem. Why is it that I can’t be at my most comfortable all the time?

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone just wore pajamas?

Think about it. Folks would be happier because they are more comfortable. Crime would go down because most pajamas don’t have pockets to conceal, say, a switchblade. I was going to say that we would all be more equal without expensive suits and fancy shoes that distinguish the CEO from the bank teller, but, I suppose, expensive silk PJs sewn together with gold thread would become all the rage among the rich.

But if everyone wore pajamas like mine, maybe it could make a difference.

I only know of three professions where it is acceptable to wear pajamas:

1) A pajama model – It’s good work if you can get it.
2) A writer – This is my excuse. Some days I don’t leave the house and my cat Oreo is the only one that sees me. She already thinks that she’s my superior so I really don’t have any ground to lose there anyhow. (A confession: I put on a pair of jeans before my wife gets home so that it looks like I did something.)
3) A garment worker – When you get paid less than $2 per day, who’s going to say anything?

My pajamas were Made in Cambodia. It was in Cambodia that I first saw workers wearing PJ’s to work.

My PJ’s are from the Genuine Sonoma Jean Company. With that said, let’s see what I can learn about them using our WAIW Wednesday methodology.

1) About the Genuine Sonoma Jean Company -

The Genuine Sonoma Jean Company is owned by Kohl’s. While Kohl’s corporate site has some stuff about being green on their front page, some digging is required to find their Terms of Engagement (PDF).

For the most part, the TOE holds suppliers responsible to their local laws: All Kohl’s Business Partners must operate in full compliance with all applicable local and national laws, rules and regulations pertaining to all aspects of factory operations in the jurisdiction of which they conduct business.

Some of their requirements are fairly vague and the language fairly shallow: Subject to the requirements of local law, a regularly scheduled workweek of no more than sixty (60) hours and one day off in every seven (7) day period are encouraged.

Let me just say that my dentist encourages me to floss regularly and, though I know I should, I usually don’t until the week or so before my appointment.

The TOE also does a few things that I found interesting, including defining child, “Child” is defined as a person who is younger than 15 (or 14 where the law of that country permits) or younger than the age for completing compulsory education in the country where such age is higher than 15.”

It also highlights section in bright yellow, giving great importance to a timekeeping system Working hours must be recorded by an automated timekeeping system. Whenever a worker is present in a facility, the worker’s time must be recorded and the worker properly compensated. This applies to both regular and overtime working hours and any time used for work preparations or repairs.

In China I heard of workers clocking out and going back to work. I don’t care how high-tech your time keeping system is, you can’t prevent that.

You might find the bit about 14-year-olds making your clothes distasteful, but you should keep in mind the context of the country. I visited Cambodia while trying to track down the folks who made my blue jeans. When I was there someone told me that I had to go to the dump. When I did, my perspective changed. Nicholas Kristof, the New York Times columnist did a similar thing that’s worth reading. However, I disagree with some of his assertions. This post is getting plenty long so here’s a link to my arguments to Kristof’s piece.

Cambodia happens to be on of the better run garment industries and heavily monitored by the International Labor Organization so it’s doubtful that my PJ’s were made by someone under 18. But you never know. I’m sure a lot of my other clothes were.

2) Kohl’s under fire -

Kohl’s, as one of the largest players in the American apparel industry has its fair share of skeleton’s in the closet.
Green America has a Responsible shopper profile on them . And the Daisy Fuentes line got pulled in 2007 after sweatshop allegations.

3) The Garment Industry in Cambodia –

The garment industry accounts for about three-quarters of Cambodia’s exports and the global economic downturn is hitting Cambodia hard. Workers who came from the villages to work in the garment factories because they didn’t have much better options, are losing their jobs. Here are a few recent headlines:

Cambodia’s Garment Workers Hit by Recession, Too
Garment Industry Unravels

4) Cambodia info -
GDP per capita – $1,200. Although I know that most garment workers earn half as much, about $50-$60.
Unemployment (2007, probably much higher now)– 3.5%.
Population below poverty – 30%

5) Be heard -

Join me in sending an email to Kohl’s - factory.compliance@kohls.com. Feel free to use the email I just sent or edit it to fit your concerns.

Dear Kohl’s,

 

I’m a consumer who realizes that my purchases have environmental and social impacts on the world. I choose to support companies that acknowledge their impact and try to lesson it. I would like to encourage the progress of your Green Scene program and ask for you to list from the countries from which you source.

Also, while searching your website, I didn’t see if any of the factories from which you source were monitored. Are they?

 

Sincerely,

 

Kelsey Timmerman
Engaged Consumer

Unfortunately, I have to leave my writer’s cave today, so I better go change out of my pajamas. If you bump into my dentist, tell him that I flossed this morning.

Welcome to the newest regular, irregular feature here at the Adventures of an Engaged Consumer. Each Wednesday I’m going to select an item of clothing that I’m wearing and see what I can learn about the brand and country that produce it with a few clicks of the mouse.

The point here is that anyone can take 5 minutes to learn about their clothes or other items they purchase. 

I’m sure the posts will evolve over time, but, for now, here’s the methodology.

1) Link to the brands corporate code of conduct, if they have one, and list what’s good about it and what’s not-so good about it.

2) Google “(brand’s name) + sweatshop” and see if any red flags popup.

3) Google “garment industry + (country of origin)” to see what the latest news is in the industry.

4) Give basic country facts: per capita income, unemployment rate, etc.

Feel free to suggest changes or additions to the methodology.

So, without further ado, let’s give it a go.

Today I’m wearing a pair of North Face cargo shorts Made in Bangladesh.

There aren't many in Central Indiana wearing shorts today; it's a dreary 18-degrees.  But coming off of a long winter, bearing my legs cheers me up.  I'm trying to fool myself that summer is here.

North Face is owned by the VF Corporation, the world's largest apparel company. It took several clicks to find this out and several more to locate their code of conduct and compliance materials. VF also owns North Face, Reef, Lee, Rustler, Nautica, and many brands.  Overall, this stuff wasn't burried on their site which was nice to see.

1) Corporate responsibility

The good –

The VF Corporation has the standard code of compliance.

Provide info on their auditing procedures (13 pages, PDF) and global compliance report (40 pages, PDF).  Although ther comliance report is from 2005. Weird.

Audit Procedure – “Nothing can be done even a sample until a factory inspection has taken place. Will be done by an accredited auditing company. Conduct an annual review.”

“Due to political, environmental, and human rights issues there are certain countries
that are deemed unacceptable for the manufacture of VF products. This is a
continually changing situation, so the VF compliance office maintains an updated
listing.”

Works with Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production

Hires Verite to train factories on compliance.

The not-so good–

Don’t reveal factory locations.

Only two of their brands – Lee and JanSport – who work with the FLA reveal their factory locations. They do because they sell to colleges. This shows the strength of the Sweatfree movement on college campuses.

Brags that average score of their owned/operated factories is 96% compliant, but the factories are graded on their own grading scale.

2) Negative press –

Humanitynews.net complains about the purchase of North Face uniforms for their police force : “Some police uniforms come from Horace Small and North Face, affiliates of the largest apparel corporation on the globe, VF Corporation. They don’t list factory locations, but Horace Small participates in W.R.A.P., a non-profit monitoring contractor. (Other affiliates of VF Corp., such as Nautica, are known to have sweatshops in Myanmar, which is a military dictatorship.)”

3) Made in Bangladesh in the news

From the Daily Star 3/25/09

"BGMEA leaders yesterday sought assistance from the government to check labour unrest that they fear will flare up in the coming months.

Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association (BGMEA) leaders fear many garment factories would be shut in the near future and factory owners would not be able to pay wages to workers on time due to decreasing exports caused by the global financial meltdown."

4) Bangladesh Facts

Per capita income – $1,400. Considering that the workers I met in Bangladesh earned between $30-$70 a month, this # shows that per capita income isn’t that useful when looking at how much garment workers actually get paid in a particular country.

Unemployment – 2.5%. This seems pretty good until you consider…

Population below poverty – 45%

That's where I am wearing today, how about you?

People often talk about labor-intensive, low-paying industries like garments as the first-step to a nation’s economic prosperity – sort of a starter drug for emerging economies. Name a developed nation and you can point to a period of hard work and low pay in their history.

People always use Japan and Taiwan as recent examples of moving from garments to big, bustling economies. They say that places like Bangladesh and Cambodia are on the same path.

But business moves faster now.

This year I might source my widgets from Mexico, but next year maybe China or Indonesia.

Speaking of Mexico, it sits there right beneath the biggest bunch of spend-crazies in human history. Few countries sought to benefit more from the global economy than Mexico.

So Mexico, how’s that going for ya?

(From Elizabeth Malkin’s piece in the NY TIMES NAFTA’s Promises Unfulfilled)

Domestic industries were dismantled as multinationals imported parts from their own suppliers.

 

Local farmers were priced out of the market by food imported tariff-free. Many Mexican farmers simply abandoned their land and headed north.

 

Things grew worse when the tech bubble burst, the American economy cooled and the companies moved to China, where they could pay even lower wages. Once China entered the World Trade Organization, Mexico lost much of the edge in exporting to the United States that Nafta had given it. Employment in Guadalajara’s I.T. factories dropped 37 percent in 2001 and continued to slide for two years.

There is no doubt that trade can lead to development. But industry has to stick around long enough to give that development a chance. Maybe business moves too fast now to create more Taiwans and Japans.

I’m Kelsey and I’m an engaged consumer.  At least I try to be.

There are a lot of adjectives that get thrown around to describe consumers.  Mindless comes to mind.  But there are others too, such as conscious and ethical.  In my book Where Am I Wearing? A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes I make the argument that we should strive to be “engaged” consumers.

I usually don’t get hung up on semantics, but I have a problem with the term “conscious consumer”.  I’ve met plenty of folks who are aware of the social and environmental impacts that their shopping has on the world and its people.  In fact, before I left to research my book pretty much everyone I met was conscious of the issues surrounding the garment industry.

“When you tell a normal person with a normal job, rent, or a mortgage, and a car payment, that you are spending thousands of dollars to go to a country because that was where your T-shirt was made, first they’ll think you’re crazy and then they’ll say something about sweatshops.”

The thing is, no one applied this knowledge to how they shopped.  There is a disconnect between knowledge and habit. So few of us are engaged. 

We love the ocean and know that trawling for shrimp does irreparable damage, but we don’t ask our server how the shrimp on the menu was caught.

We hear about a brand’s product being made in a “sweatshop” (I hate this term; expect this to be addressed in a future post) so we swear off the brand without telling a soul.

For a second or two we wonder why catalogs list a product’s country of origin as only one of two things: “Made in USA” or “Imported”.  When we get the T-shirt, table, or toy, it will say right on the tag or packaging, but for some reason the info is kept from us in catalogs.  This bugs us a little, but not enough to make a phone call or send an email.

Awareness and consciousness are passive.

Since my global quest to meet the folks who made my clothes I’ve been converted to being an engaged consumer, but I’m still a work in progress.  I’m still deciding what to buy or not buy and what brands to support. How to interact with the global systems such as the ones that feed us, clothe us, and put fuel in our cars so we can drive to work.

If you’re wondering what lengths I’ll go to investigate a product, all you need to know is one thing: I went to Bangladesh because my underwear was made there.

This blog will document my adventures as an engaged consumer.  I’d be happy to hear yours.