User:Aurelius2015/sandbox

Trusted Clothes is a not-for-profit organization linking people, organizations and brands that are ethical, environmentally friendly and health conscious with a focus on the garment industry. Trusted clothes is a group of volunteers with a diverse background in manufacturing, marketing and global issues dedicated to promoting Ethical, Sustainable and Healthy fashion.

The garment industry is the 2nd largest polluting industry, tailing only behind Fossil Fuels. In addition to the detrimental environmental impact the nature of the garment industry and supply chains also creates a starting point for poverty, slavery, child labour, human trafficking, abuse and safety issues.

The Trusted Clothes Approach
The trusted clothes approach is to use the available resources and a global team of like-minded individuals to contribute a piece of the overall solution. The solution includes raising awareness of the industry globally, educating consumers to understand alternatives, and to connect and close the gap between the conscious consumers, retailers, brands and manufacturers who provide sustainable, ethical and healthy alternatives to mainstream fashion.

Living Wage
Living wage is the amount of money necessary for a family to be able to afford the bare necessities such as food and shelter. A number of the top producers in the fashion industry have the lowest minimum wage -- among the lowest are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Cambodia, all of which have a monthly minimum wage of less than $100US. According to the Asia Floor Wage (2013) the minimum wage in many of these countries is well below living wage, specifically, in China (minimum wage is 46% of living wage), India (minimum wage is 26% of living wage), Sri Lanka (minimum wage is 19% of living wage), Malaysia (minimum wage is 54% of living wage), Indonesia (minimum wage is 31% of living wage), Cambodia (minimum wage is 25% of living wage), and Bangladesh (minimum wage is 19% of living wage).

Working Conditions
•	Occupational Safety and Health Administration •	extensive guidelines and an analysis of the clothing industry with regards to machine operation, ergonomics, hazardous substances, noise, heat stress, exposure to cotton dust and dye safety

Outsourcing
to China, India, Bangladesh

Production shifting – short term sourcing
Middlemen who employ outworkers compete for the bids from the retailers and therefore must offer the lowest production costs to outbid the others.

Environmental Impact of the Fashion Industry
•	Synthetic fibers more difficult to dye than natural fibers •	Add heavy metals and toxic compounds to water to help dyes cling •	Pollution runs off into lakes, rivers, oceans •