Burberry: Detoxing is not just a fashion fad | Greenpeace International

Last week we reported on Greenpeace’s study that discovered toxic chemicals in kids clothes from a number of major retailers. This is not only alarming but surely the final push consumers need to stop buying clothes from fast fashion retailers – if not for themselves then at least for their kids.

The skin is porous and absorbs everything it comes in contact with. If the clothes that you put on your child contain chemicals, these will be absorbed by the skin and could make it in to the blood stream. Your child will also breathe in the chemicals, which could result in respiratory issues. Ever wonder why so many more kids suffer from eczema and asthma nowadays?

It is time to start seriously thinking about the clothes that we are buying and making changes. Our children are so precious to us. We watch what they eat, we put them in hats and sunscreen, we hold their hands when we cross the road – we do everything we can to protect them. Now protect them from the clothes that could be causing them harm.

Greenpeace have launched a campaign against the fashion house Burberry for using materials in their kids’ clothing that contain toxic chemicals. You can read more about what you can do to help let Burberry know that we will not buy their clothes until they can commit to detoxing their brand below.

Change has got to come to the fashion industry. The time is now.

Burberry: Detoxing is not just a fashion fad | Greenpeace International.

A Little Story About the Monsters In Your Closet from Greenpeace

Greenpeace’s ‘Little Monsters’ Image © Greenpeace

Don’t believe us? Greenpeace has just released a report that shows shockingly hazardous levels of toxins in clothes made for kids. The clothes tested came from fast fashion brands, such as American Apparel, C&A, Disney, GAP, H&M, Primark, and Uniqlo; sportswear brands, such as adidas, LiNing, Nike, and Puma; and the luxury brand Burberry. They were also manufactured in twelve different countries.

This is pretty alarming stuff. Not only are these chemicals in the clothes worn by our children, they are also being handled by the workers in the garment trade all over the world. What’s more, these chemicals could be let loose in the environment, harming the natural world and local communities.

Read more about how these chemicals can affect your child here.

Read the Daily Mail’s coverage of this report.

Greenpeace’s ‘Detox Catwalk’ to toxic-free fashion reveals the Trendsetters, Greenwashers and Laggards

Last week, Greenpeace International released its “Detox Catwalk”, an “interactive online platform assessing the progress made by major clothing companies towards a toxic-free future”.

Greenpeace’s goal is that the fashion industry should be toxic free by 2020. Our constant demand for the latest fashion made at the cheapest price has created an industry that cuts corners to keep shelves stocked with new lines that are costing mere pennies to make. These ‘corners’, however, are no trifling matter. Cuts are resulting in lands and rivers flooded with chemicals, clean water supplies being reduced, the safety of people being overlooked and more. Those who get the blame are the companies who are the biggest buyer of the manufactured goods. They are often the ones who are cutting costs in such flagrant ways.

When Greenpeace launched its ‘Detox’ programme in 2011, many of the ‘High Street Shops’ signed up to the programme. Some have been very proactive while others have yet to come up with an individual plan. The ‘Detox’ campaign aims to get them all on the same page by a target of 2020 and the ‘Catwalk’ campaign is putting their progress on display and labeling the companies as ‘Trendsetters’ or ‘Leaders’, ‘Greenwashers’ and ‘Laggards’.

Greenpeace outlines the three groups as follows:
Leaders – Detox committed companies leading the industry towards a toxic-free future with credible timelines, concrete actions and on-the-ground implementation.
Greenwashers – Detox committed companies failing to walk the talk, masking ineffective actions with paper promises and weak commitments
Laggards – Uncommitted toxic addicts that refuse to take responsibility for their toxic trail and have yet to make a credible, individual Detox commitment.

The assessment is based upon the credibility of a company’s Detox commitment and its actions to deliver on the ground outcomes. The committed companies are grouped according to their commitments and actions under three critical headings: Core Principles, Transparency and Elimination. . Greenpeace have assessed all the companies who have committed to the Detox programme except those in the ‘Laggards’ category as they have not yet made their individual commitments.

Campaigns like this will ‘name and shame’ some of the companies in to action but at the end of the day, if the demand is there, these fashion brands will continue to supply it. Until we as consumers start to demand answers to questions like where were my clothes made, and how, and by whom, then where is the motivation for the companies to supply the answers and to make changes?