Environmental and Social Impact of Fashion †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Environmental and Social Impact of Fashion. Answer: Introduction The clothing industry is one of the most dynamic and challenging industries in the modern period. The widely popular Collette Dinnigan, Lisa Ho, Jaysonn Brunsfon, Kit Willow and Sass Bide are taking the world by storm and are successfully expanding themselves into the global marketplace. The Australian clothing industry is the primary creative and designing industries and presently, there are more than 2000 fashion exporters through which it is delivering its products and services in the international market (Azizul Islam and Jain 2013). However, this paper will shed light on the prevailing ethical issues in the clothing industry and their impact on the different stakeholders. Furthermore, it will also examine the different alternatives for addressing these issues. The clothing industry has a very complicated connection with many other fields such as advertising, manufacturing, transportation, retailing and production of raw materials. The large amount of profits that is made in this sector creates a temptation for engaging into ethical behavior. When the manufacturers, consumers and the producers are being treated in unfair terms, the clothing executives have the ethical responsibility to change the same. There are several ethical issues that are prevailing in the clothing industry in current days and they include animal abuse, unfair wages, environmental degradation, health and safety risks and child labor (Mboga 2017). Two of these ethical issues are described below: Low wages- According to the words of the clothing industry, it provides employment opportunities in the second and the third world countries and this is why their sweatshops is universally benefitting the life of their workers, notwithstanding of whether or not these workers are paid their living wages. But, this in fact is a white lie. In majority of the countries, the workers are paid below the minimum wages by their contractors, who are hired by the large and well-known fashion companies. The payments that these workers get not even cover their basic needs and it is doubtful to say that these payments allow them a budget for their emergencies. Animal cruelty- The issue of animal abuse within the clothing and fashion industry is known to all. It comes in two parts- the first is the one in which the animals are tortured directly by objectifying them for their fur, skin or their hide, whereas the other part harms the animals by disturbing their food chain or by polluting their habitat. In both of these circumstances, the processes that are involved in the production of cloth and fashion makes living freely and independently for these animals tough. In order to have the workers shave off their fur for making clothes, many of the animals are bred in confinement and are grown to a ripe age. With the same, the live animals are many of the times, mutilated after their furs are been shaved. Also, animals such as crocodiles and snakes are sometimes bred especially so that the manufacturers can extract their skin as the raw materials for making products such as handbags, shoes etc. Impact of ethical issues on the different stakeholders The stakeholders are the actual owners of an organization in true terms as they are the share holders in the organization (Wheelen et al. 2017). Each of the stakeholders expects decent returns on the money they have invested upon the company. In clothing and fashion industry the stakeholders who are involved include the entrepreneurs, who initiates the business; the CEO who runs the corporation; the workers who harvest the raw materials like wool, cotton, leather etc; the workmen who operates the provided raw materials into clothing; the advertisement companies who raise awareness among the people for the industry; the transportation companies; government, the families of the workers, the food and drink company who cater food services to the factory workers; the water and electricity supply providers; the TV stations and the broadcasting companies; the shopping malls; and the customers (Pal 2014). Each of these stakeholders are greatly affected if the industry faces any ethical issue within the system. Such type of ethical issues makes common man change their perspective. They tend to opt for other things. As a result, this reduce sale of the products and services and this in turn will ultimately affect these stakeholders who are involved. Initiatives for addressing the issue There are some companies that have investigated the practices of fair and ethical trade (Crane Matten 2016). The fair trade clothing firms assures their consumers that the workers or the workmen in the foreign countries are receiving livable and fair wages for the work they are doing. In order to overcome the problem of water pollution or environment degradation, some of the clothing and fashion companies have begun to use more natural and eco friendly products (Hansen Schaltegger 2016). The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has an extensive guideline in terms of ergonomics, machine operation, noise, hazardous substances, exposure to cotton, dye safety and heat stress (Dong et al. 2013). Like, for example, for some general safety advice with regards to sewing garments, the organization (OSHA) has a page in its website where there is detailed information regarding sewing techniques and proper posture. The International Labor Organization (ILO), which guides the clothing manufacturers of Europe, has set guidelines that the clothing companies can use to make sure that appropriate fair labor practices are implemented within the companies. Each of the measures that have been taken by the clothing companies and the different associations and organizations are effectively contributing to better tomorrow for the fashion industry as well as for the well-being of mankind. However, the sense of going green is the best to me, as it is benefitting both environment and the company. Using organic cotton, soy, bamboo and hemp to weave the fabrics and plant based dye to color the fabrics would greatly reduce the environmental impact of fashion (Mukherjee 2015). Conclusion From the above analysis, it is to be concluded that the clothing industry is one of the most spirited and active industries in todays market and this is what making it fall under certain ethical issues within the sector. However, there are certain steps taken by different associated organization in order to reduce the issues and take the industry towards success without any dilemma. Below are several further recommendation made in order to address these issues: Recommendation Reputable voluntary schemes must be used in order to ensure that highest possible standards of care are provided to every animal that are used for the purposes of clothing and fashion. A guarantee must always be obtained that the feather and the fur that are used to make the clothing is originated solely from the naturally dead animals and birds. Both the producers and the suppliers must consider the fact that the wild animals are a major part of their own natural ecosystems and therefore they should be valued as well as protected by them. Their welfare must be taken into consideration by the producers and the suppliers. With the same, the clothing industry, both national and international should abide by proper safety measures in order to ensure that the employees are being treated in ethical and moral way. Furthermore, using recycled synthetic fibers in the products will surely help to keep the non-biodegradable items away from landfills. References: Azizul Islam, M., Jain, A. 2013. Workplace human rights reporting: a study of Australian garment and retail companies.Australian accounting review,23(2), 102-116. Crane, A., Matten, D. 2016.Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press. Dong, X. S., Choi, S. D., Borchardt, J. G., Wang, X., Largay, J. A. 2013. Fatal falls from roofs among US construction workers.Journal of safety research,44, 17-24. Hansen, E. G., Schaltegger, S. 2016. Mainstreaming of Sustainable Cotton in the German Clothing Industry. InSustainable Fibres for Fashion Industry(pp. 39-58). Springer, Singapore. Mboga, J. 2017. ELICITING MILLENNIAL PERSPECTIVES ON ETHICAL PRACTICES AND MORAL CONDUCT WITHIN THE APPAREL INDUSTRY.European Journal of Economic and Financial Research. Mukherjee, S. 2015. Environmental and social impact of fashion: Towards an eco-friendly, ethical fashion.Int. J. Interdiscip. Multidiscip. Stud,2, 22-35. Pal, R. 2014. Sustainable business development through designing approaches for fashion value chains. InRoadmap to Sustainable Textiles and Clothing(pp. 227-261). Springer Singapore. Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D., Hoffman, A. N., Bamford, C. E. 2017. Strategic management and business policy. pearson.