Fred's Footprint
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK on 04.29.07
New Scientist environment correspondent, Fred Pearce, is currently touring the world and investigating his own footprint, but from a global perspective. This week he is in Bangladesh, examining the conditions under which his jeans were produced. "These women work 10-hour days or more, making clothes in one of the sweatshop capitals of the world. I had come to find where the jeans I paid £9 (US$18) for in a British store came from. They came from women like these." 80% of Bangladesh's exports are from the clothing industry, and the women who produce these items earn just under US$1 a day. Pearce has previously traveled to Tanzania to investigate the source of his favorite fair-trade coffee, and to South Africa to see the conditions under which the gold for his wedding ring was mined. It's an important journey, and one that could help people to think about the impact of their purchases. Our disposable culture is not a sustainable one. Cheap goods may be good for the consumer, but are severely detrimental to our planet and to workers in developing countries. We must think about our purchases, and spend our money wisely, because it can influence what industry does. :: New Scientist
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is he traveling by plane and automobile examining his footprint? that's a lot of fossil fuel to find out who made his clothing and grew his coffee.
This is probably the most brilliant thing I've read on Treehugger.
The one problem with this post is that it doesn't suggest any alternatives.
The alternatives are simply- Do our best to be less materialistic. I admire what he is doing. He's opening up our eyes. If only he could find a greener way to reach his destinations, but I'm sure he will. He may already be brainstorming the idea.
We all started somewhere. If what he's doing is informing thousands and thousands of people about their footprint, great!
we already know the alternatives: American Apparel, Fair Trade, gold from reliable sources, etc., etc. I think people, especially those that read TreeHugger, know how to make changes in their lives when it comes to injustices, they just need to start by knowing that there are injustices and what they are. Spoon feeding everyone problems and solutions will never make for an effective way to have people make changes when they care. But opening people's eyes, like this man is doing and in the way that this man is doing is a really great step.