The consensus was that it's very hard to find fair trade/organic lines for a lot of the clothes people need for everyday wear. You can go on ethical consumer to check out a lot of the retailers and some producers, but still there's very little information for most people to make an informed choice about how the products they buy are made.
Most people would not buy things if they knew that children suffered as a result, but ignorance removes their ability to make that choice and people like to think that reasonable behaviour is adopted by most businesses (even when it is not the case).
Emma, who was leading the meeting, has posted round this list of websites where you can buy new clothes online from ethical producers:
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Of course, we also have to think about second hand instead of new as being a good solution environmentally and also supporting local businesses which may not be branded fair trade, but don't exploit workers and have traceable supply chains.
There is a lot of greenwash about, but we need to make sure the bad practices are stopped in the longer term to protect people and the environment - voting with your wallet is a good way to start.
Joe Peacock
