Fashion vs Health

Photo courtesy of DittyBox

Teaser here! Cosets, Control and Consumer Demand..

"Corset damage was ignored, even as fainting spells rose. Fainting became a sign of feminine delicacy so  symptom relief was sought rather than going for the prevention. (Until some flagrant feminist, some outrageous pioneer of garb said, "Wait a minute, girding my torso is torture and i won't take it any more!" Does this sound familiar? (djb, from Fashion Ethos) "

& i just realized- the fainting couch actually became a popular piece of furniture. .So fainting was good for capitalism - it created a "need" for more products!! See how this stuff works?

Please read the rest of the story on Fashion Ethos.

 Photo courtesy of Woodcreation

and

Photo courtesy of  LemonCadet


Thank you. 

Story at Ethos

 

This is back side of Graffiti Building

I just finished a story on sweatshops, Bangladesh and The Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire. Please check it out at Fashion Ethos

Water Cycles: The Good and the Bad

The Greenpeace report "Toxic Threads," is out  and i am feeling warmed by the kindred spirit of changemakers.. This is what Thanksgiving is to me. These are my heros. This is what i appreciate.

"Toxic Threads" is a focus on the toxins used in clothing during manufacturing and finishing.  You can support the campaign to eliminate this idiocy from our planet and make many ever more grateful.

There are non toxic substitutes, both the known and the yet to be discovered.  It seems that the more "cheap" rules the consumer oriented capitalist model, the more everything is cheapened. (Belief directs outcomes)
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Companies blame the manufacturing subcontractors and yet force them to keep prices low (call it competition) so this game of "whose fault" ends up as "our fault." How?

If we buy these toxic garments we are agreeing to the idea that it doesn't matter.

Agreeing doesn't eliminate the responsibility or the after affects. Agreeing is a form of denial. However when a cancer of "unknown" origin enters your field of vision, the blame game gets uber serious. (Cancer causing toxins swimming at large in chemical pools are mixing it up, there is no way to predict all possible outcomes)

You see, what is thrown into gutters "over there" flows eventually to "here," in the water, via the sea life, even in evaporated water that is released as rain and snow. We are only beginning to be able to measure the consequences of our ignorance. However we can extrapolate from the knowledge we have acquired. That is where we can make the difference that will change the story.

If that isn't enough to alarm you, think about that garment next to your skin. Your skin absorbs these fine micro particles. Sometimes your skin reacts with a big red "no."

I wrote an entry a few years ago about toxic reactions to garments and started the wash first campaign to protect babies, in a first line of defense. The sign is a free download, post away ..please!

That was an immediate response, however, washing releases that crap into the local water systems and even water utilitiy companies know they are not able to filter these chemicals out. What you can't measure, see or don't know, can sometimes bite, is that really an acceptable risk under the circumstances?

So instead of supporting the patterns of dis-ease, support health. Support whole systems thinking. Weave the threads and pretty soon a new "design" appears. New designs equate with new possibilities. Its simply that simple.



 

graphics from the Toxic Threads PDF, more where these came from.

Clean Clothes

What do we know about the manufacturing practices that create "the style" that gluts the stores?

I know a little, as am always digging up the information. But most of us learn only about the end product from marketers and their allies in the media, who tell us what is hot and then shame us for wearing it a few months later. This arrangement is an almost perfect waste generating, resource gobbling mechanism that assures the corporations who now own most of the labels, a stream of "reliable" revenue.

But under the hype and gloss, the illusions and lies, are very real people, resources and toxic processes.

Ok, a lot of us are calling all of this out on the carpet of shame, as no way can this form of capitalism continue. Eventually the resources are used up, the environment tainted and the humans that feed the c-machine are too unhealthy to bother with shopping. The few predators who end up on top of the world will be sitting on dead soil, tainted air and foul water. Like how is that a win even in corporate speak?

So if that scenario makes zero sense in your awakened state, then do something! It gets easy to ask front line employees about the products and services they are involved with selling. Simple questions like " do you know where this was made, is it a Fair Trade item, is this really organic, because that certified label like, means almost nothing in the USA, etc. can open up brilliant discussions. This generates today's knowledge. Facebook in real face time.

"Labor Behind the Label" has a pocket insert you can download from their site and slip into jean pockets while still in the store. LBL is trying to call attention to and therefore stop the lung damaging sand blasting practices that some jean labels still use, despite the known health risks.

Together we will stop the madness.