My Speech

Ethical Consumerism

Right now I’m going to ask you to look down at yourself. Take a look at the clothes and shoes that you’re wearing . Do you see big label brands, like Nike, or Adidas? Have you ever thought where your clothes came from? After my speech, you’re probably going to look at the tag, and then tell me it came from China, but who made it? Are the workers living in absolute poverty because they’re barely getting paid?

Today, my speech will inform you about how important it is to be aware of where your apparel comes from. I try my hardest to be wise about what I buy, so I know where that bag of bread came from, or those new shoes I just bought. After my speech, I hope you will, too.

Every garment that you own has a story. Whether it’s made in China or New Zealand, whether it’s made by a sick person or a healthy person.

Being ethical or conscious about what you buy means that you’re aware and proactive in making sure what you buy is created in humane conditions. A vital part of being ethical with your choices, is knowing where it came from. Have the workers been forced to slave away for eighteen hours a time with no breaks, and gotten slapped for looking up? Lots of big companies use child slave labour and sweatshops so that they can make as much profit as possible. They do this by reducing their workers’ wages by using child slave labour and sweatshops in poorer countries, such as Sri Lanka, China or Indonesia. Child slave labour is employing children to work for them for countless hours on end, while sweatshops are almost just as bad. The bosses make the them work in poor conditions, under wage and in tiny work spaces.

It’s best to research brands before supporting them with your purchases, because you never know! If you buy something that uses sweatshops and slave labour, you’re supporting them to make more product, which results in more slave labour, and miserable needlessly dying workers.

Going even deeper into the ‘making of the product’, it’s good to know if the fabric of your apparel has a good story. Is the cotton organic? Or has it been farmed with pesticides and slave labour?

Baptist World Aid Australia’s studies shows most brand’s specific and overall grades ranging from A+ to F-. This test shows consumers how ethical their brand is. Nike’s overall grade is C+; sort of average, but still heaps of improvements to make, and their Worker Empowerment grade (their workers rights grade) is D+; not so good! Adidas’ overall grade is A-; good, and their Worker Empowerment grade is B- alright. A brand to avoid big time that you probably buy from lots, is Farmers, with a straight F! So I’m definitely going to tell my mum tonight to not buy me anything else from Farmers! On the contrary, I thought Kmart would be have just as bad a rating as Farmers, but no! Kmart is cheap, has got a huge range of apparel and more, and, it’s overall rating is B! Having said that, though, it’s worker empowerment grade is C-. Owch!

So, now that you’ve heard my speech, will you join with me for these poor workers so that they can live in proper, humane conditions? It’s time for us to make change. It’s time for us to get off our butts and do something about this horrific behaviour. It’s time for us to help these innocent, dying workers to live a happy life like we all deserve to!