I am not sure if you have heard of the show “Blood, Sweat and, T-shirts” that is on Planet Green. I just recently came across it while searching through On Demand channels. I watched the first episode and loved the show. It was about six young adults in love with fashion, they go to India for about 3 weeks learning how clothes are made, having to work at sweat shops and a cotton mill. They experience the poor work conditions and find out that child labor really exists.
I was surprised to see how horrible working conditions really were and to see how much they get paid. Every pound of cotton they picked they would earn a whopping few cents. If they were lucky they would make $2.00 a day. How can anyone live like that?
It was crazy to see how dirty work and living conditions, many would even sleep on the floors of the factories to save money on housing. Regardless of where they worked they always worked long hours, many time into the night to meet their quotas. It is so commendable to see how hard they work for so little money to give to their families.
The show was a really great eye opener for anyone who watches it and I would recommend it to anyone. Like most things we take our clothes for granted. Go to the store find a great sale on a t-shirt and not know where the shirt has been before it got to your hands. To check out more information about the show take a look at the website at http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/blood-sweat-tshirts/
Fair Trade assures that the workers work in clean work conditions, no child labor, that workers get decent wages, among other things. Whenever possible support the workers by buying fair trade items. You can check out the website for more information at http://www.fairtradefederation.org/
The more people that are aware the better. Many people don’t realize what is going on behind the scenes. The important thing is that we bring awareness.
