53 million items of clothing are produced every year, while EU residents throw away 9.5 million tonnes of clothing over the same period of time. These enormous amounts of clothes are often manufactured under very poor working conditions in developing countries. Accidents occur on a regular basis, with one of the more well-known examples being the Rana Plaza textile factory in Bangladesh, which collapsed around eight years ago. What has changed since then in the industry?
What remains relatively unchanged is the fact that clothes are being produced at very low costs in the east and then being sold for much higher prices in the west. The Rana Plaza incident left 2,500 people injured and killed 1,134. However, according to General Director of Caritas Marc Crochet, the industry has done little to improve the situation.
Crochet explains that if all of the world’s production were to stop right now, there would be enough clothes for six generations. In turn, this also means that the environment has already been burdened with the pollution of six generations. The textile industry is in second place when it comes to environmental pollution, just behind the petrol industry.
In order to alleviate the burden on the environment and make the industry more sustainable, an awareness campaign is planned in Luxembourg as well. The average European buys 60 pieces of clothing every year, 30% of which stays in the wardrobe without being worn.
Crochet criticises that residents of western countries have become used to paying €7 for a pair of trousers. He points out that the price is actually much steeper, as it costs other people their social security plan, their right to unionise, and, in the worst cases, even their lives.
This is why Caritas is campaigning for consumers to be more mindful and sustainable in their clothing choices by swapping, giving away, recycling, or simply buying fewer items of clothing.
In cooperation with Fairtrade Luxembourg and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Directorate for the Cooperation of Development and Humanitarian Aid, Caritas has launched its new “Rethink your clothes” campaign. The first campaign in 2018 introduced the idea and raised awareness among residents for fair clothing. As of today, there are 25 Fairtrade shops in Luxembourg. The new campaign will see an increased inclusion of students and cooperation with a Luxembourg-based company, which will produce ecological work clothes from ethically sourced cotton.
Jean-Louis Zeien, President of Fairtrade Luxembourg, explains that while it is true that “you are what you wear”, the reverse also applies: “you wear what you are”. The goal of the campaign is thus to encourage people to consider the ethical choice they are making when buying their clothes. Zeien hopes that the campaign can contribute to turning “fast fashion consumers” into “fair fashion consumers”.
The institutions agree that forced and child labour, poor working conditions, and meagre wages for cotton farmers and textile workers should not have any place in the textile industry.
