Ethically produced sports gear?

tallaght01

I'm getting really sick of looking at my sports gear, in the knowledge that kids are making them in sweatshops, and people are being exploited in developing countries, just so I can have a pair of trainers.

I've decided I'm going to make a real effort to stay sweatshop free in terms of my clothing.

But sportswear is a bit of a problem. I can't find a single brand of trainers that aren't made in sweatshops.

Anyone else struggling with this issue? And, more importantly, has anyone else managed to find decent brands that are ethically produced?

I don't mind paying a bit more. Thoughts would be much appreciated. I've heard lots of "it's impossible to avoid them" opinions. In fact it's all Ive heard recently. But would be really keen to hear about the possible options, rather than hearing about how difficult it is.

Krusty_Clown

Asimonov is probably the man to ask. He's very ethical.

mloc123

So you are willing to get rid of your old gear to buy new stuff that is ethically produced?

Reminds me of people who scrap an old car to buy a new 'green' one... ignoring of course the amount of carbon created by the new car being produced.

Maybe I am heartless but I'll stick with my cheaply produced Nike gear.

tallaght01

mloc123 wrote: »

So you are willing to get rid of your old gear to buy new stuff that is ethically produced?

Reminds me of people who scrap an old car to buy a new 'green' one... ignoring of course the amount of carbon created by the new car being produced.

Maybe I am heartless but I'll stick with my cheaply produced Nike gear.

There's no comparison whatsoever there. I'll give my old stuff to a charity, and I'll start buying stuff that's produced ethically.

You can do what you like with your Nikes, to be honest.

mloc123

tallaght01 wrote: »

There's no comparison whatsoever there. I'll give my old stuff to a charity, and I'll start buying stuff that's produced ethically.

You can do what you like with your Nikes, to be honest.

There is tho', you have alreday bought them... the kids have produced them and now you are going to get rid of them? The harm is done, the company has made a profit off you... why not just continue to wear them and not buy any new stuff.

tallaght01

mloc123 wrote: »

There is tho', you have alreday bought them... the kids have produced them and now you are going to get rid of them? The harm is done, the company has made a profit off you... why not just continue to wear them and not buy any new stuff.

Or I could give them to people who are going to need clothing in the winter, and support ethically produced clothing firms, where kids aren't working 18 hours per day for feck all money. I need some new stuff, and I don't wanna buy from Nike etc.

I'm not sure why you're interested in my personal choices, but does anyone know where/if I can buy sportswear like this?

RoyMcC

It's a difficult one Tallaght01. You get called hypocritical if you support the idea of being ethical but continue to wear the gear. But as far as I know there aren't any alternatives.

Anyhow the people that would suffer first by everyone not buying the gear would be the workers themselves who rely on their jobs for a pittance of an income.

Maybe the answer is to support the ethical cause in a different way, perhaps by joining a pressure group.

tallaght01

RoyMcC wrote: »

It's a difficult one Tallaght01. You get called hypocritical if you support the idea of being ethical but continue to wear the gear. But as far as I know there aren't any alternatives.

Anyhow the people that would suffer first by everyone not buying the gear would be the workers themselves who rely on their jobs for a pittance of an income.

Maybe the answer is to support the ethical cause in a different way, perhaps by joining a pressure group.

I'm already a member of my local amnesty international in Oz, and I do some work in a refugee clinic where I see many ex sweatshop workers. But I just feel bad about wearing that stuff.

I see your point about them relying on the income from factories. But I think what most lobbyist want is for them to stay put, and just provide better conditions. You can still produce goods ethically in developing countries much cheaper than you can in say the USA or Ireland.

donothoponpop

New Balance make shoes in Cumbria and the USA where there should be fair working conditions. Don't know if they also have Far East sweatshops, but my NB runners are made in GB.

(Although the US link shows they have a military partnership, so not sure what side your ethics lie there!)

tallaght01

donothoponpop wrote: »

New Balance make shoes in Cumbria and the USA where there should be fair working conditions. Don't know if they also have Far East sweatshops, but my NB runners are made in GB.

(Although the US link shows they have a military partnership, so not sure what side your ethics lie there!)

Thank you! That's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm not as anti-military as most of my Amnesty peers, as I recognise the need for armies, sadly.

I'll have a good read through the site. Appreciate you digging up the link for me

tunney

tallaght01 wrote: »

I'm getting really sick of looking at my sports gear, in the knowledge that kids are making them in sweatshops, and people are being exploited in developing countries, just so I can have a pair of trainers.

I've decided I'm going to make a real effort to stay sweatshop free in terms of my clothing.

But sportswear is a bit of a problem. I can't find a single brand of trainers that aren't made in sweatshops.

Anyone else struggling with this issue? And, more importantly, has anyone else managed to find decent brands that are ethically produced?

I don't mind paying a bit more. Thoughts would be much appreciated. I've heard lots of "it's impossible to avoid them" opinions. In fact it's all Ive heard recently. But would be really keen to hear about the possible options, rather than hearing about how difficult it is.

So you're going to contribute to making all those poor people in sweatshops unemployed?

tunney

tallaght01 wrote: »

I'm not sure why you're interested in my personal choices, but does anyone know where/if I can buy sportswear like this?

Probably cause you posted here asking about it?

tunney

donothoponpop wrote: »

New Balance make shoes in Cumbria and the USA where there should be fair working conditions. Don't know if they also have Far East sweatshops, but my NB runners are made in GB.

(Although the US link shows they have a military partnership, so not sure what side your ethics lie there!)

In the same manner if you take a chicken from the UK, butcher it there but bread it here its now Irish Chicken no doubt.

donothoponpop

tunney wrote: »

In the same manner if you take a chicken from the UK, butcher it there but bread it here its now Irish Chicken no doubt.

A skeptic in a thread about ethics, par for the course...

Both the UK and US factories make the shoes- they don't just "re-brand" them. NB do, however, have a Far East presence as well, details here. From what I can see, they're the best of a bad lot.

OP, if you ever fancy hill running, here's a bit of corporate ethical blurb about Inov-8s (hill/trail shoes) conditions in China.

Krusty_Clown

Inov-8 trail shoes are produced ethically, according to their website. Great shoes too.

nerraw1111

Outdoor clothing company Patagonia are pretty green and ethical. They pretty much set the benchpark for other companies to follow.

They make some trail running clothes that might suit you as well as tops, long sleeves etc.


This is worth a read.

http://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/category/magazine/?p=2190

Bloody Nipples

tunney wrote: »

So you're going to contribute to making all those poor people in sweatshops unemployed?

That's such a cop out of a response. Most people don't care enough to find out where there shoes come from but the abuse that occurs in the manufacture of many name brand products is well documented. The OP wanting to have nothing to do with this sort of business and refusing to buy their products is a drop in the ocean and is not going to put these factories out of business. I really have no idea what you're trying to prove by throwing out such a delusional statement.

tunney

Bloody Nipples wrote: »

That's such a cop out of a response. Most people don't care enough to find out where there shoes come from but the abuse that occurs in the manufacture of many name brand products is well documented. The OP wanting to have nothing to do with this sort of business and refusing to buy their products is a drop in the ocean and is not going to put these factories out of business. I really have no idea what you're trying to prove by throwing out such a delusional statement.

I had assumed it was obvious it was a joke. Must remember my smilies in future.

Bloody Nipples

tunney wrote: »

I had assumed it was obvious it was a joke. Must remember my smilies in future.

Well that's the problem with assumptions isn't it?

copacetic

donothoponpop wrote: »

A skeptic in a thread about ethics, par for the course...

Both the UK and US factories make the shoes- they don't just "re-brand" them. NB do, however, have a Far East presence as well, details here. From what I can see, they're the best of a bad lot.

OP, if you ever fancy hill running, here's a bit of corporate ethical blurb about Inov-8s (hill/trail shoes) conditions in China.

New Balances name has been going downhill for the last few years as they move more and more production overseas, I think you can only get UK shoes in UK and Ireland and USA shoes in US?

Although it's very hard to get good information on these issues. Mizuno and Saucony have a good reputation but what it's based on I don't know. My mizunos are all made in China even ones I got from Japan...

Stark

If the kids there weren't working in clothes factories, they'd probably be working in even less savoury professions, that's the unfortunate truth about far east countries. Pressure needs to be put on the companies to give their staff better conditions, not pull out of the country altogether.

Orion

tunney wrote: »

In the same manner if you take a chicken from the UK, butcher it there but bread it here its now Irish Chicken no doubt.

No it's not. If it's foreign chicken that's breaded here it's "Irish Breaded Chicken" not "Irish Chicken" or "Breaded Irish Chicken". The former means it's not Irish chicken. The latter two mean it is. You tried to be ironic and ironically you failed.

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Outdoor clothing company Patagonia are pretty green and ethical. They pretty much set the benchpark for other companies to follow.

Their outlet store is in Exchequer St in Dublin. Great prices. I love their baselayer gear. And the philosophy behind their products is excellent - make superior products and cause no unnecessary harm.

asimonov

Hey tallaght01,

In terms of buying ethical trainers, truth be told its a difficult choice. The industry plays a game that is based on heavy investment in R&D, marketing and development of distribution channels whilst cutting the fcuk out of supply chain / manufacturing costs. There was a time when the big players were the worst offenders in terms of poor labour conditions, but most of them have realised the potential damage that sweatshops can do to their brands - and the bad guys now are the likes of penney's with their ultra-low priced disposable products. I'm no expert but i did a bit of digging around in this area a couple of months ago and a small amount of work for a trade association that helps fashion and sports companies develop organic supply chains.

The big players still all source from the usual supply centres (china / taiwan etc) - so i don't think it possible to find trainers that are made in what we might call desirable working conditions. However, most of them are pretty rigid on ensuring that they are made under legal conditions. The other elements of ethical of course is the environmental impact of sportwear. As consumers, if we care, we can all reduce unncessary consumption, choose products that are manufactured in a more sustainable fashion, and choose how we deal with trainers or sportwear after their useful life. These things are as important as anything.

For trainer's, brooks are pretty strong on their use of sustainable materials in their products (check out their green silence racing flat) and packaging; as per some of the posts above the trail scene seems to have embraced sustainability more than running has - the running market is definitely more "performance" focused - and that is where consumers want to see their product innovation.

For technical fabrics, the big trend has been to base green / eco claims on the use of fabrics formed from polymers based on either natural materials (bamboo) or from recycled plastics (bottles) - however the process of producing these fabrics is really dirty, and not green at all. The heavy use of chemicals produces little that is a clean other than a "label" and a marketing claim. There is one fabric called Tencel that is made from a closed loop system (where all by-products of the process are treated or reused) and that was the best in show the last time i checked. A French company called sebola (www.sebola.fr) produce technical running tops using Tencel that are manufactured in France. They're more expensive but they are good in terms of durability, but different people will see value in different places. Patagonia use the same fabric in some of their prroducts.

In terms of other non-technical fabrics, organic cotton is widely available and heavily certified by the organic exchange at this stage; and of course light merino wool makes a brilliant base layer. I hope some of that helps, if you find anything else of interest please post it.