After writing yesterday's post I decided to go see where the 66 items hanging in my closet were from. No surprise, it turns out they are quite a well traveled internationally - more so than I am! The surprise was that I actually have 3 items of clothing made in the USA.
So here's the breakdown:
3 - Bahrain
6 - Bangladesh
4 - Cambodia
25 - China
4 - Hong Kong
1 - India
1 - Indonesia
1 - Japan
6 - Jordan
1 - Mexico
1 - N. Mariana Islands
2 - Sri Lanka
7- Vietnam
3 - USA
1 - Unknown
I also stumbled upon a list of manufacturers of clothing and other things that make their products in the US. The blog China Ate My Jeans provides a list of made in USA resources. If you are interested read the comments section on that page as their are other recommendations. I learned from her post that Karen Kane clothes are made in the USA now and I know I've seen their clothing at Macys (Dillards and Belks are supposed to carry them too) so I will have to pursue that although they don't look like my style. I think it would be a huge challenge to stop buying things made elsewhere so additional options would be to buy secondhand items to prolong their life at least and to actually wear out the clothing you have now.
I want to be clear that I think everyone in the world should be able to earn a good living. I am focused on the environmental cost and the human cost of lowest cost production.
If you ponder and/or act on this, please share how you approach it and any resources you have found - not just limited to clothing.
I try to buy Canadian made as much as possible... live & eat local if you can! If not at least try to put the $$ back into your own economy I think! :) As for "extras" like coffee, chocolate, etc.. I always buy organic & fair trade. It's simply the right thing to do! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree Carla and have let this slide from my consciousness. Time to get back on track!
DeleteI purchase as much local food and all as I can but fabric and clothing is hard to find made in the US. We only buy cars from the US and as many appliances etc from the US. I will give the site you suggested a try, thanks for the info!!
ReplyDeleteI try to buy through thrifting first whether it is clothes, furniture, home goods. If I can't find what I want by that means, I will buy new...and try to keep it local/organic/fair trade but I am not as diligent as I could be about that.
ReplyDeleteI think it is not just about being diligent - I think it is very, very difficult to find things manufactured in the US. Kudos to you for thrifting! I need to schedule some time to go explore some thrifting options here.
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