Ethics and Sustainability in the Mass Market | Page 6

Sustainability and ethics in the mass

The majority of pesticides applied in
the cotton industry are in developing
countries where employers and employees
are not educated enough to handle
pesticides effectively, neither do they have
the equipment (People and Planet, n.d).
The World trade organisation estimates
3 million people are affected by pesticide
poisoning and 20,000 deaths are caused
by the use of pesticides in third world
countries, per year (Meeghan, 2013). The
world’s second largest selling pesticide,
Aldicarb, is classified by the World Health
Organisation as extremely hazardous.
This pesticide is widely used in the cotton
industry. A fully grown adult can be killed
by one drop being absorbed into the skin
(People and Planet, n.d).

The way cotton is farmed is not
sustainable in that it uses 4000 litres
of water to grow 1kg of cotton (WWF,
n.d). An example that shows the extreme
consequences of this is the Aral Sea.
In Uzbekistan 85% of the Aral Sea has
disappeared due to the cotton industry
draining it of its water (People and Planet,
n.d). This is allowed by the government
due to the cotton industry being such
a crucial part to the national economy
in Uzbekistan (Kilner, 2011); another
ethical value that is being breached due
to this is child labour (Vij, 2013). The
Uzbekistani government have been
known to employ children as young as
seven years old (Biron, 2014). There
are now many campaigns that involve
an outcome into the boycott of Uzbek
cotton. A well known example of this is
The Cotton Campaign. They are a global
coalition of human rights, labour, investor
and business organizations dedicated to
eradicating child labour and forced labour
in cotton production (Cotton Campaign,
n.d).
There is now currently a pledge to “avoid
knowingly purchasing Uzbek cotton
until the practice of forced labour is
discontinued”. 136 international apparel
companies have signed this pledge; these
include mass market companies such as
H&M, Tesco and M&S (Vij, 2013).

market fashion industry could loosely be
described as a current arising issue. Many
retailers such as H&M and Marks and
Spencer are starting to try and make a
change in how and where they source and
make their clothing.

The mass market sector retailers
are large, international companies that
sell affordable clothing and accessories
for women, men and usually children.
They have a wide consumer audience of
all ages. The products sold are known
to be of a lower quality, due to the mass
production. The shops are known to have
average customer service, but meet the
ever-changing consumer wants and needs
at inexpensive prices (Investopedia, n.d).

“Sustainability in fashion and
textiles fosters ecological integrity, social
quality and human flourishing through
products, actions, relationships and
practices of use.” This is Kate Fletcher’s
(2012) definition of what sustainability
is in the fashion industry. Sustainability
and ethics go hand in hand with one
another. Ethics could be defined as what
society perceives as “morally” correct and
right (BusinessDictionary, n.d), though
are society really educated on ethics and
morality within the fashion industry?

The extraction of materials used in
our clothes is much more damaging to our
planet than some may think. Cotton is a
prime example of a material that has such
a diverse versatility yet is so destructive in
extraction. Cotton is planted in 2.4% of
the world’s cropland, yet it contributes to
24% of the global sales of insecticides and
11% of pesticides (WWF, n.d). According
to Zion Market Research (2016) the
insecticides market is poised to surge from
$2.63 billion to $3.48 billion globally by
2021. This is due to the demand for the
insecticides/pesticides growing, due to the
want of better crop production and rising
threats of infestation by pests (Zion Market
Research, 2016) The chemicals used on
the cotton crops can lead to severe health
complications.
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