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On Feb 10-13, 2008 EJF participated in London Fashion Week to develop awareness on the issues around the production of cotton. The event was a success! The area of Esthetica brought together ethical designers such as Ciel, Green Knickers and Kathrine Hamnett. The interest on behalf of consumers showed the growing demand for organic and ethical cotton.
The 100% organic Turkish cotton t-shirts desinged by Christian Lacroix, Betty Jackson and Luella Bartley for EJF, helped to bring the message of the importance of buying organic and ethical cotton. 20 top models, amongst them Caroline Trentini, Coco Rocha, Catherine McNeil and Irina Lazareanu volunteered to have their pictures taken in support of the campaign. The t-shirts were on sale at the event and all the proceeds will be going to continue to support EJF's work.
Since 2003, EJF has been documenting the abuses of the cotton industry. We have concentrated in the third top world exporter: Uzbekistan. The government run industry takes children as young as seven out of school and leaves them to work in the fields under back breaking conditions for months at a time. They are exposed to pesticides, unfairly paid and have limited drinking water. The environmental impact that the industry has caused on the Aral Sea is extensive as 85% of its water has been lost due to inefficient irrigation. Communities that once depended on the sea for their livelihood have been forced to look for alternate ways of subsisting.
Recently, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Debenhams have banned Uzbek cotton. This is an important development as more and more suppliers, retailers and consumers become more conscious and stop buying from countries who permit these forms of abuse.
Learn more and support our work at www.ejfoundation.org
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