After finishing my research about where my clothes are made, who makes them, and the issues surrounding it, I have realized a number of things I did not know before. My role as a global consumer does have an impact on the lives of people around the world. I would say that all my clothes were probably made in a sweatshop. Buying clothing from companies that use sweatshops is not something I agree with, and I would like to buy clothes from companies that 'play fairly'. But there are a number of issues when trying to buy 'clean clothes'. First of all, just trying to determine which companies use sweatshops is extremely difficult as this information is not widely or easily published. Second of all, there are hardly any 'fair trade' clothing shops around. All the major clothing companies have stores in the most central locations, and generally 'fair trade' shops are out of the way. Also the 'fair trade' shops may be slightly more expensive, which puts many people off. Quite frankly, when I go looking for clothes, I look for something that looks good, fits, and is cheap. That is mainly what people look for when clothes shopping. They do not look for clothing made in 'fair trade' places. The average consumer is too stupid, too lazy, and too ignorant to buy from sweatshop-free companies. It is the plain reality that people just do not care where their clothes come from - just whether it is what they want.

Researching the environmental and health impacts of cotton, polyester, and leather also revealed many things about their production. Cotton has pesticides sprayed on it and these pesticides remain in the clothing and are released during the life span of the garment. This means that pesticides are potentially released from the garment onto your skin! Polyester pollutes the environment because of the process used in producing polyester. This process destroys the ozone layer. Leather is made from animal skins, and these animals are often raised in terrible conditions. The tanning process uses a lot of energy and water, as well as the use of harmful chemicals.

I never knew that buying clothes was such a big issue. The process to create clothes is environmentally damaging and the production of clothes exploits human labour. My lifestyle is not sustainable and if everyone tried to live like I do, then the environment would not be able to support us all. Think of all the cotton, and polyester that would need to be produced if everyone bought the same amount of clothes. The pollution would be massive and would take up a lot of agricultural land needed for food.I believe in educating people about sweatshops so that consumers can be more actively aware of what they are buying and life a more sustainable way.