Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
SSF’S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SSF’s AGM will be held on Thursday 20th November. We will be discussing Sustainable Transport for Southampton, with guest speak Nick Farthing from Sustrans.
7pm-9pm at Friends Meeting House,
1a Ordnance Road (off London Road),
Southampton SO15 2AZ.
Everyone is welcome, entry is free and there will be a selection of Fair Trade refreshments.
PICK YOUR COTTON CAREFULLY!
October 25, 2008
Many of us have recently been buying new school uniforms. These almost certainly included cotton, and perhaps they came from one of the retailers offering a very good price. Given the cost of living, that is a real bonus.
Despite widespread synthetics we all love cotton for jeans, shirts, underwear and sweaters. Cotton is versatile, comfortable and good looking. It has been used for over 5,000 years, and still provides nearly half of all fibre needs worldwide. But how often do we look beyond the style and the price of our clothes and wonder who has produced them and what their lives are like?
There is growing awareness of the environmental challenges posed by cotton: it uses a quarter of the world’s insecticides. We are also increasingly aware of terrible employment practices in the cotton garment industry. The real price of our cheap clothing may be children’s lives spent in sweatshops, and workers’ health destroyed by unregulated use of chemical on plantations.
None of us would deliberately harm others in this way. Present us with an alternative guaranteed to improve producers’ lives, and most of us would be happy to accept it. However, when we take a stand, we are often bewildered by the profusion of labels making “eco”, “green”, “ethical” and “fair trade” claims for their goods.
A conference organised by the Southampton Fair Trade Group is to discuss these questions. It takes place on Saturday 25 October from 10 am to 4 pm at Solent University Conference Centre, 157 – 187 Above Bar St, Southampton SO14 7NN. As well as talks, it features an Organic Cotton Fair, films, and demonstrations of cotton spinning and weaving.
All are welcome. Admission is £3.00 on the door but please book a place in advance through