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VIDEO: Gap Defends Its Decision Not to Sign Bangladesh Safety Accord

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:00:47 +0000

As dozens of anti-sweatshop protestors faced arrest outside Gap’s annual shareholder meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday, the retail giant defended its decision not to sign the legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Although 35 Western brands and retailers, including Gap competitors such as H&M, Mango, and Zara, have agreed to hold themselves legally accountable for safety and labor conditions in the factories they employ in the South Asian nation, Gap has held back. But don’t mistake the company’s reticence for callousness, according to Angela Leung Wasmer, the company’s director of global public affairs. “Gap takes our commitments very seriously,” Wasmer says in a video on We Are Committed, a website Gap launched on Sunday to address the issue. “We see all of our commitments as things we will do each and every day.”

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Patagonia Creates $20M Venture Fund to Support Like-Minded Companies

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:19 +0000

Patagonia wants to play fairy godmother. The outdoor-apparel giant has announced plans to invest more than $20 million in like-minded, socially responsible startups through a new in-house venture fund. Known as “$20 Million & Change”—the name is a nod to both the initial capital and its potential to “change” the way people do business—the fund will fall under the auspices of a new holding company that will serve as an umbrella for Patagonia’s apparel arm and the company’s various subsidiaries. Patagonia Works, which succeeds the Lost Arrow Corporation, will not only cover present Patagonia holdings, but it will also incubate new companies or investments that use business to “inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis,” according to Yvon Chouinard, the rock-climber-turned-entrepreneur who founded Patagonia 40 years ago.

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Ceiling Collapse at Cambodia Shoe Factory Kills 2, Injures 9

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:20 +0000

Photos by Heng Sinith for Associated Press

The ceiling of a small shoe factory outside the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh collapsed early Thursday, killing at least two workers and injuring seven as a result of the falling concrete. The latest accident, which comes less than a month the deadliest industrial disaster in Bangladesh killed more than 1,120 people, underscores the deadly safety conditions many garment workers face in the developing world. About 50 workers were inside a workroom of the factory when the cave in occurred. Ken Loo, the secretary general of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, told the New York Times that steel beams holding up a concrete-floored storage area on a mezzanine above appeared to have been responsible.

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A&F Would Rather Destroy Its Clothes Than Donate Them to the Homeless

Lori Zimmer — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:00:22 +0000

If you thought Abercrombie & Fitch couldn’t get more offensive, you’d be wrong, oh so wrong. After CEO Mike Jeffries drew fire last week for deliberating excluding plus-size women from wearing his clothing, a three-year-old remark by an unnamed store manager is picking up traction. “Any clothing that has any type of blemish, including things such as a stitch missing or a frayed fabric, gets sent back to the company for immediate disposal,” the source said. “Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t want to create the image that just anybody, poor people, can wear their clothing. Only people of a certain stature are able to purchase and wear the company name.”

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More Brands, Retailers Commit to Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:08 +0000

Holy domino effect! Following examples set by H&M, Inditex, Primark, and C&A on Monday, a number of North American and European clothing brands have agreed to sign a legally enforceable, first-of-its-kind contract that holds them accountable for safety and labor conditions in the factories they employ in Bangladesh. Below, a list of companies that have committed to the Accord on Fire & Building Safety, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign. Among the more conspicuous absentees? Gap and Walmart, both major producers in Bangladesh.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: H&M, Zara Commit to Signing Bangladesh Fire and Safety Agreement

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Bangladesh to Allow Garment Workers to Unionize, Raise Minimum Wage

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:56 +0000

Photo by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

Bangladesh’s government agreed on Monday to allow the South Asian nation’s 4 million garment workers to form trade unions without seeking permission from factory workers, a milestone victory for labor-rights campaigners who have been lobbying for widespread reforms to the industry following a devastating building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people three weeks ago. The decision came a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for garment workers, who are paid as little as $38 per month—a quarter of China’s current minimum wage—to sew clothing for brands and retailers in North America and Europe.

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H&M, Zara Commit to Signing Bangladesh Fire and Safety Agreement

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:50 +0000

Photos by Farad Hossain for Associated Press

Four of the world’s largest retailers have consented to a legally binding, first-of-its-kind contract that requires Western businesses to help finance improvements in the factories they use in Bangladesh. Three weeks after a building collapse outside Dhaka killed more than 1,100 workers, H&M, the biggest purchaser of garments from the South Asian country, and Inditex, which owns fast-fashion juggernaut Zara, agreed within minutes of each other on Monday to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. Britain’s Primark and C&A in the Netherlands followed their lead hours later, approving a stakeholder-drafted plan that calls for independent building inspections, public disclosure of audit results, mandatory building renovations to address hazards, and union access to factories to educate workers on their rights and their safety.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: International Support for Improving Bangladesh Safety Surpasses 1 Million

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International Support for Improving Bangladesh Safety Surpasses 1 Million

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:48 +0000

Photos by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

As the number of confirmed deaths from the deadly Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh pushes past 1,000, a more-heartening number is emerging. More than 1 million people have signed petitions calling for brands and retailers sourcing from the South Asian nation to commit to the legally binding, first-of-its-kind Bangladesh Building and Fire Safety Agreement, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, an alliance of organizations in 15 European countries dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Read Our Ongoing Coverage of the Bangladesh Building Disaster

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Another Fire Breaks Out in Bangladesh as Rana Plaza Death Toll Tops 900

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:44 +0000

Photo by Associated Press

File this under “We wish we were kidding.” As the death toll from a building collapse in Bangladesh climbed past 900, a fire tore through an 11-story garment factory in Dhaka Wednesday night, killing eight, according to police and fire officials. The blaze swallowed up the lower floors of the Tung Hai Sweater Ltd. factory, producing massive amounts of smoke as it fed on piles of acrylic products used to make sweaters, Mamun Mahmud, deputy director of the fire service told the Associated Press. Although the facility was closed for the day, it was far from empty. The victims, who Mahmud said died of suffocation as they ran down the stairs, included the factory’s managing director, Mahbubur Rahman, a member of the board of directors of the influential Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Also among the dead: senior police official Z.A. Morshed and Sohel Mostafa Swapan, head of a local branch of the ruling party’s youth league.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: 9 Sustainable Fashion Brands That Produce Ethically in Bangladesh

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Death Toll In Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises Above 650

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:00:15 +0000

Bangladeshi authorities have confirmed more than 657 deaths after the eight-story Rana Plaza collapsed just outside the South Asian nation’s capital of Dhaka on April 24. Murder complaints from families of the deceased have been filed against the building’s owner, Mohammad Sohel Rana, who was arrested after a four-day manhunt as he tried flee across the border to India. Similar charges also face the owner of one of the garment factories housed inside the facility and a municipal engineer who allegedly cleared its faulty construction without proper inspection. They and six others in police custody could face the death penalty if found guilty of murder or mass manslaughter.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Read Our Complete Coverage of the Rana Plaza Tragedy

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Baroness Lola Young: Uzbek Cotton is Fashion’s “Horse-Meat Scandal”

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:00:25 +0000

The garment industry could learn a thing or two from Europe’s horse-meat scandal, said Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ethics and Sustainability in Fashion, at a recent British parliamentary debate. Addressing the House of Lords in March, Young warned about the “unforeseen complications” of globalized processing and trading. “The longer and more dispersed the supply chain, the more difficult it is to ensure transparency and accountability,” she said. She provided the real-world example of cotton from Uzbekistan, where the government forcibly sends upwards of 2 million children—some as young as 7—to work in the fields for 10 hours a day, for two to three months each year, according to the Responsible Sourcing Network.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Disturbing Video Reveals Child Laborers Picking Cotton in Uzbekistan

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Vivienne Westwood Gives Virgin Atlantic Crew an Eco-Friendly Makeover

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:00:03 +0000

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Fire Breaks Out at Collapsed Bangladesh Factory Site, Owner Arrested

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:00:27 +0000

Photo by A.M. Ahad for Associated Press

Mohammed Sohel Rana, the fugitive owner of the eight-story building that collapsed and killed at least 385 people last week near the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, was arrested Sunday by a commando force as he tried to flee to India. Meanwhile, a fire broke out at the site of the former Rana Plaza facility, which housed five garment factories, along with a bank and a shopping mall. THe blaze, which fire officials told reporters was likely the result of sparks from cutting equipment used by rescuers, complicates attempts to find any more survivors from the South Asian country’s worst industrial accident to date. About 2,500 people have been rescued from the wreckage, but hundreds of garment workers, mostly young women between the ages of 18 and 20, are still unaccounted for.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: What Circumstances Led to the Bangladesh Factory Collapse?

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Several Arrests Made as Bangladesh Factory Death Toll Soars to 348

Jasmin Malik Chua — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:00:32 +0000

Photos by A. M. Ahad and Andrew Biraj for Reuters

Bangladeshi authorities have arrested at least seven people, including two factory owners and two engineers, three days after this week’s deadly Rana Plaza building collapse outside the capital of Dhaka, according to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the state-run news agency. Although the whereabouts of Mohammed Sohel Rana, the building’s owner, are still unknown, BSS reports that Rana’s wife and cousin have been detained to pressure him to surrender. Since the eight-story building imploded into a mass of concrete and mortar on Wednesday, the death toll has risen to at least 348. Although 29 people were pulled from the rubble Saturday morning, rescue workers admitted to reporters that the voices are getting weaker.

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Death Toll in Bangladesh Factory Collapses Exceeds 300, Riots Ensue

Jasmin Malik Chua — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:13:58 +0000

Photo by A.M.Ahad for Associated Press

As thousands of Bangladeshis swarmed the streets of Dhaka to express their anguish on Friday, setting fire to vehicles and wrestling with police, the death toll in the Rana Plaza building collapse broke the 300 mark. Army spokesman Shahinur Islam told Reuters that the death toll had reached 304, while and H. T. Imam, an adviser to the prime minister, said it could surpass 350. “Our prime target is to rescue the rest of the survivors alive, as we are running against time,” a military spokesman told reporters more than two days after the incident. Still, amid the death and destruction, a sliver of hope: Rescuers were still pulling people alive from the debris—72 since daybreak and another 41 overnight—including two women who gave birth under the rubble.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Death Toll at Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises to 228 People (Video)

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VIDEO: Death Toll at Bangladesh Factory Collapse Rises to 228 People

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:29 +0000

Photo by Andrew Biraj for Reuters

The death toll in the Bangladesh garment-factory collapse on Wednesday has risen to at least 228 people, per the latest numbers from Reuters. Survivors from the disaster told described a “deafening bang” and tremors before the eight-floor Rana Plaza building fell out from under them. An unspecified number of victims still remain trapped, authorities say. “We can’t be certain of getting them all out alive,” Mizanur Rahman, a rescue worker with the fire brigade, told the wire service. “We are losing a bit of hope.” As the government declared a national day of mourning, with flags flown at half-mast at all official buildings, Dhaka’s district police chief Habibur Rahman said the number of dead could rise even further. Eighty percent of the people who worked there were young women aged between 18 and 20, according to the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Bangladesh Garment-Factory Collapse Kills Nearly 100 People, Injures a Thousand

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Bangladesh Garment-Factory Collapse Kills Nearly 100 People

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:00:52 +0000

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Jude Law Pleads With World Trade Organization to Uphold Seal-Fur Ban

Bridgette Meinhold — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:00:07 +0000

Photo by cinemafestival/Shutterstock

Jude Law is siding with the seals and is pleading with the World Trade Organization to keep seal fur off the sales racks in the EU. Currently the WTO is holding hearings to consider reversing the ban, which was originally instituted in 2010 due to concerns about the animal welfare aspects of the seal hunt. Law has teamed up with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and writes the letter on their behalf to help convince the WTO to maintain the ban. In the letter, he explains that it is ‘inherently cruel to bash in the heads of baby seals when they’re only weeks old’. The Fur Institute of Canada is behind the appeal because their industry is struggling, but we say let a cruel industry like this one fade out.

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Eileen Fisher Would Like Its Clothes Back Now, Thanks Very Much

Helen Morgan — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:00:29 +0000

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Council of Fashion Designers of America Forms “Sustainability Committee”

Jasmin Malik Chua — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:00:03 +0000

Photos by Loomstate

The Council of Fashion Designers of America has tapped Loomstate’s Scott Mackinlay Hahn and jewelry designer Melissa Joy Manning as the co-chairs of its first-ever “sustainability committee.” The group, which will include a steering committee of CFDA members such as Maria Cornejo, Victoria Bartlett, Pamela Love, and Tina Lutz, will “foster and support sustainability measures in the fashion industry through mentorship, education and collaboration,” the not-for-profit trade association announced on Monday—aptly, Earth Day. These industry experts are not only committed to socially and environmentally restorative business practices, according to a press release, but they’ll also “lead the charge, with the aim of inspiring and empowering designers to take practical and prosperous steps toward sustainable design.”

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Snoop Dogg, MTV Team Up With Jewelry for a Cause to Recycle Illegal Guns

Yuka Yoneda — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:00:48 +0000

While his sudden name change had people up in arms for a while, Snoop Lion (or Snoop Dogg, if you’re old school) has been stirring up controversy in a different way lately. He’s thrown his weight behind a new line of jewelry that turns illegal guns into wristwear. Called MTV x Caliber, the bracelet he wore to the MTV Movie Awards is being sold to help fund future gun buyback programs in Newark, NJ.

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Gap Turns Indonesian River Into an Unnaturally Multicolored Chemical Soup

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:00:18 +0000

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Walmart Refuses to Compensate Bangladesh Fire Victims

Jasmin Malik Chua — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:00:09 +0000

Looks like there are limits to Walmart’s largesse. After announcing its $1.6 million contribution towards the establishment of an Environmental Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh, the world’s largest retailer has so far declined to join other companies in voluntarily compensating victims of a devastating fire that killed 112 garment workers outside the capital of Dhaka in November. The company, allegedly Tazreen Fashions’ largest buyer, also failed to attend a meeting hosted by the IndustriAll Union in Geneva Monday, where companies that contracted the facility, including C&A in the Netherlands, KiK in Germany, and El Corte Inglés of Spain, discussed compensation payments for the injured and families of the deceased.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Launches Environmental Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh

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Actor Peter Dinklage Calls for U.S. Ban on Animal Tests for Cosmetics

Jasmin Malik Chua — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 18:00:43 +0000

Peter Dinklage wants to see an end to cosmetics tests on animals in the United States. The Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning actor, who plays charismatic antihero Tyrion Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones, has teamed up with Cruelty-Free International to denounce the continued use of animals to develop everyday beauty and personal-care products. Dinklage joins fellow celebrities Joss Stone and Ricky Gervais in promoting humane, non-animal alternatives, such as human-cell and -tissue cultures and computer models.

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Walmart Launches Environmental Health and Safety Academy in Bangladesh

Jasmin Malik Chua — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:00:29 +0000

Is Walmart’s latest act of contrition a case of too little too late? Five months after labor groups linked the world’s No. 1 retailer with a devastating fire claimed the lives of at least 112 garment workers in Bangladesh, Walmart is donating $1.6 million to the Institute for Sustainable Communities to establish an Environmental Health and Safety Academy in the South Asian nation. Operated by the Vermont-based nonprofit in conjunction with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and Walmart’s own staff, the facility will provide apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh with “high-quality, affordable and comprehensive” training on fire safety and environment, health and workplace safety, according to the big-box store.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Walmart Adopts “Zero-Tolerance” Policy for Illegal Subcontractors

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