View Full Version : Clothes from China?
Some of us around here (Santa Fe) no longer feed our animals or selves anything that has ingredients from China, due to nuclear contamination there. I as already not buying clothes made in China for reason of the workers, but I was given a sweater made there--would the same thing apply about nuclear?
Wouldn't it be Japan with the nuclear contamination, or did I miss something?
Boy, it sure is hard to find ANYTHING not made in China. :( (And then we wonder why we have so many poor and unemployed).
Hmmm.....do you know anyone with a geiger counter? I'm serious.....that would answer the question for sure.
I'm sure there are people on here who will laugh at your concern, but I think it's a real concern.
I try not to buy any dishes or glasses from China, (for other reasons than nuclear), but they getting harder to find.
ToomuchStuff
9-30-14, 1:00pm
Contamination spreads. I read something lately, about an animal population that was tainted by Chernobyl, being detected in Poland and Germany. China and Japan share the sea, where a lot of contamination got into the food supply.
Maybe things like lead-testers and geiger counters need to be part of everyone's stuff these days!
Does China have a high rate of cancers? Seems like it would get to the clothing makers first.
I try not to buy anything made in China because of their human-rights record, their pollution record, what appears (to me) to be almost-complete disregard for intellectual property, and a well-documented history of cutting corners in ways that eventually hurt people. By the time "nuclear radiation" appears as a "point against", I've almost always found some other reason not to buy something made there.
I've not heard of radiation risk from clothes made in China, but I'm pretty much with Steve on their human rights history. Sometimes on the news you see these companies in China with nicely dressed executives in clean building and think, hey, these guys are sort of like us. Maybe on person to person basis there are many similarities, but China remains an authoritarian government prone to imprison dissenters and protesters. There is heavy government censorship. In their rush to catch up with the western world of capitalism, they take many unsavory liberties with the environment. By my experience, the quality control on a lot of their cheap electronics and other consumer goods is poor and a lot of the products are prone to early failure.
It's about impossible to get totally away from Chinese products, but I do look at labels and country of manufacture just about like I occasionally check ingredients on food products.
I'm finding it almost impossible to find things made in the U.S. I do look every time I buy something. If it's not China, it's Honduras, Guatemala, Vietnam, S. Korea, India, Mexico......
I suppose those are all better than China though.
I'm finding it almost impossible to find things made in the U.S.
Made in USA Challenge: http://madeinusachallenge.com/made-in-america-master-list/
I've also had good luck doing Web searches for <name of item> made in america .
I have quite sensitive and calibrated radiation detection gear here at my home lab, that I know how to use, and I have not detected any radioactive contamination in any consumer products or food brought into the home.
I could detect my wife from the other end of the house last year though, when she came back from having an examination that involved injecting her with radioative isoptopes for imaging purposes :-)
ToomuchStuff
9-30-14, 11:29pm
I could direct you to a local to me hardware store, that has some Geiger counters for sale. They will need to be re-calibrated, as we haven't had any duck and cover civil defense parts in quite a while.
I've been coming to China since 1992, living here since 2002. As far as I know, I don't glow in the dark. Nor do any of my clothes.
ToomuchStuff
10-1-14, 12:29am
I've been coming to China since 1992, living here since 2002. As far as I know, I don't glow in the dark. Nor do any of my clothes.
That dot next to your name glows whenever your here.:~)
Gosh never thought of that. I tried and gave it a very good run two years ago buying only American made products. It is a search to do this and investigating every purchase. I found a few great sites that had many links to mostly everything. I put a great amount of thought into my car purchase that year also. I learned agreat deal from this event. I could not sustain, my life got crazy. Today I buy no food products that are not American made,processed or grown IF I can. Do somethings slip by me, yes. Clothes are actually the hardest for me. Stylish without costing $$$$ is very hard.
I just got another Detroit Bike the B type to go with the A.
rosarugosa
10-1-14, 7:42pm
Not Your Daughter's Jeans are made in the US, and I find it reasonably easy to find socks made in the US. I got a great thrifted denim skirt made in US (Bebe was the label). Cactus Clothing makes some cute women's shirts in the US.
awakenedsoul
10-1-14, 10:31pm
I make my own sweaters, socks, and summer tops. I also make all of the hats, scarves, and gloves that I wear. I try not to buy things made in China. I get my yarn at our local yarn shop, or on line through Webs. I buy most of my produce from CA organic farmers. My old car was made in Korea, but now I take the bus and bicycle. I do buy Italian shoes, but they last for years and years. I knit my own slippers and all of the gifts I give. The local yarn shop likes me, because I am like a walking sandwich board for their yarns.
I think clothes are a little easier to see where they're made (labels), than food. I buy a lot at Kroger and most of the time the label says "Distributed by Kroger", which really makes me nervous. Seems like another way of saying "Don't ask........"
As far as clothes.......I don't care one bit about fashion. I wear my clothes until they fall off. So at least I end up buying a lot less of anything made anywhere.
It's a global village now (much to my dismay). All bets are off as far as just about anything.
I guess I'm not understanding this whole thread. Why exactly are all things Chinese believed to be nuclearly contaminated? Unless China has had some secret nuclear plant meltdown that they've miractulously kept out of the news there's no reason in my mind to think why Chinese products would have this problem.
Gardenarian
10-2-14, 11:10am
jp1 - agreed, this is not something I would worry about.
I buy nearly all of my clothing used, so feel less concerned about it's impact economically/politically/radioactively. Just saving stuff from being thrown out.
A couple weeks ago I was in Salvation Army and they were taking all the glassware that had been on the shelves a while and just smashing it. I don't know why they would give it away or something.
I guess I'm not understanding this whole thread. Why exactly are all things Chinese believed to be nuclearly contaminated? Unless China has had some secret nuclear plant meltdown that they've miractulously kept out of the news there's no reason in my mind to think why Chinese products would have this problem.
The usual reason - Know-Nothing jingoism.
awakenedsoul
10-2-14, 3:25pm
I guess I'm not understanding this whole thread. Why exactly are all things Chinese believed to be nuclearly contaminated? Unless China has had some secret nuclear plant meltdown that they've miractulously kept out of the news there's no reason in my mind to think why Chinese products would have this problem.
That's not why I make my clothing. I try to buy locally, when possible. If I'm not growing something myself, iI like to support the organic farmers in this area. I owned a small business, and I know how expensive it is. Today I went and bought a bike lock from the man who fixes my bike. He does excellent work and owns a bike shop in my neighborhood. I could have gone to Walmart, but I went to him. I know it's not easy for him to stay in business.
When I knit my own clothes, I'm buying yarn from our local yarn shop. Each regular customer helps her to keep her doors open. I could buy a sweater at Target that is made in China for far cheaper, but I don't.
It sounds to me like Cathy is also trying to avoid buying things that are made in China.
I guess I can see plenty of reasons, some potentially valid and some not, to avoid Chinese goods. Personally I'd question any food product from there because I don't personally trust their regulatory agencies to adequately insure the safety. But worrying that I'll be exposed to radiation is not one of the concerns I'd expect is valid unless some event has happened that we don't know about.
The shirts start from $1 on Alibaba. 100% cotton. What else to say?
I guess I can see plenty of reasons, some potentially valid and some not, to avoid Chinese goods. Personally I'd question any food product from there because I don't personally trust their regulatory agencies to adequately insure the safety.
It's sort of amazing where some of our food comes from. I hardly ever buy seafood because so little of it sold in the regular markets is sustainable, but I do like to look. One day I was looking at some seafood in the counter at Sunflower Market. Usually those guys don't know much about country of origin, but there was a fellow who seemed to know a little more than usual. Some of their seafood was caught in Russia and then processed in China. That just seems crazy to me.
I believe it was in Kroger the other day, and they had lots of signs up around their meat/seafood department saying "We care about sustainable seafood". Yeah, right. What total BS.
Geez.........is there anything believable anymore??
ToomuchStuff
10-8-14, 10:49am
The shirts start from $1 on Alibaba. 100% cotton. What else to say?
Evidently, if they glow in the dark or not.:laff:
I believe it was in Kroger the other day, and they had lots of signs up around their meat/seafood department saying "We care about sustainable seafood". Yeah, right. What total BS.
Geez.........is there anything believable anymore??
Of course they care, just their definition differs from yours. They want a sustainable supply to keep selling at a profit. (is that your idea?)
Evidently, if they glow in the dark or not.
:)) Some of them, maybe. Now, seriously. If you are to buy 2 shirts that look and feel absolutely the same, one costing $1 and one $10, what would you do? Or better said, what would most of us do?
SteveinMN
10-10-14, 1:33pm
Now, seriously. If you are to buy 2 shirts that look and feel absolutely the same, one costing $1 and one $10, what would you do? Or better said, what would most of us do?
But it's never really as simple as that. It's very hard to determine all the costs that go into making anything. But it's almost certain the $1 shirt is being subsidized somehow, through farm subsidies for the cotton or for funding a standing military that fights for our interests in petroleum-producing countries so we can make polyester; the costs of aiding workers who aren't being paid a living wage (or whose jobs in the U.S. were outsourced so shirts can be made in a low-labor-cost country); the costs of pollution caused by manufacturing facilities that scoff at regulations (if they even exist) or go bankrupt before their toxic site needs cleanup; and so on.
Not saying the $1 shirt or the $10 shirt manufacturers don't react in a public-friendly way to those situations. Not saying that all of these situations exist with each manufacturer. But I can eat my seed corn for way cheaper than buying corn on the open market. What happens when I've eaten it all? We do ourselves a disservice when we enable some businesses to pass on their negative costs to the public. It's not a real savings at all.
The shirts start from $1 on Alibaba. 100% cotton. What else to say?
One of my former grantees has a great documentary film that explores the cotton industry, including China's part in it. The cotton in that $1 shirt probably came from Xinjiang, where it was picked and processed either by labor camp prisoners or by the bottom rungs of the migrant worker class. And was grown on land that some consider occupied, using water pumped from underground aquifers that are quickly running dry. And sprayed from root to toe with massive amounts of pesticides.
That being said, I do take issue with those who want to turn China into some kind of economic or environmental boogieman. There are good forces and bad forces here, just like anywhere else in the world. Power corrupts, and that's where criticism should lie -- so think about calling out the management at Apple and Walmart and other companies who exploit the global system for their own extreme benefit before you go pointing fingers at an entire country or ethnicity. Most common people in China are just making the best of the hand they have been dealt and doing their best to get by. Yes, there are people who make questionable ethical choices. There are also people trying to make a difference. Painting everything from China as somehow tainted or evil may make your life simpler, but it isn't going to make the world a better place.
Sorry for my rant, but in my own crazy way I still care about this place and the people who are struggling here. And I get rather annoyed by people like my very good academic friend, the tenured professor at the Ivy League university, who is always ranting on Facebook about China's environmental and labor issues with posts typically coming from his Iphone, Ipad or Imac. Yeah, just a bit ironic, that....
I like shirts made in Bangladesh, made by highly-skilled Bangi tailors. Not sure where my jeans came from, maybe China. But, Confucious say: "It is better to go out in public wearing clothes made in China, than to go out in public wearing nothing at all." That's what he said, better believe it.
ApatheticNoMore
10-11-14, 2:25am
Power corrupts, and that's where criticism should lie -- so think about calling out the management at Apple and Walmart and other companies who exploit the global system for their own extreme benefit before you go pointing fingers at an entire country or ethnicity. Most common people in China are just making the best of the hand they have been dealt and doing their best to get by.
But these companies are merely doing what they must pretty much too, which is maximizing profits. It seems silly to expect corporations to be other than what they are created to be - profit maximizing machines. So yea it many ways it does seem to make a lot more sense to me to blame the government, of China and of the U.S.. Now if there was a boycott or a market that wanted these corporations to behave better they might.
Sorry for my rant, but in my own crazy way I still care about this place and the people who are struggling here. And I get rather annoyed by people like my very good academic friend, the tenured professor at the Ivy League university, who is always ranting on Facebook about China's environmental and labor issues with posts typically coming from his Iphone, Ipad or Imac. Yeah, just a bit ironic, that....
What internet connected device should he be using? Is there one that is made entirely by workers paid a fair trade wage with lots of environmental protections that he should be using instead? If so I've never heard of it. Or should he not have internet connectivity? Only use the computers at the library? I guess one could say he doesn't "need" so MANY devices. I wouldn't really disagree. But I don't see much irony at all in choosing a less than ethical choice for something if no more ethical choices exist (no fair trade phones and computers). FWIW I guess the right choice might be: that it's better to fix computers when they are fixable (swap out a new hard drive if that is the problem etc.) than get whole new computers when they break, and phones as well though that would probably involve taking them to the apple shop in that case etc.
Lemme tell you kids my personal experience with jeans. In the mid-1990's, there was a small company that made blue jeans about 2 miles from my house. I guess they were a sub-contractor for some bigger company that marketed them under their label. But, they would sell you jeans, factory-direct, no label, cash-and-carry. So, a couple times a year, I'd go over there, go out in the shop, get a couple pair and go in the restroom and try 'em on & buy 'em. But, they went out-of-business several years later. Or, maybe they moved. Don't know. But, they charged more than double for jeans than wally-whirled does now, in todays dollars. But, at the time, I did what I could to support American workers, buy local, all that. There was also a company that made t-shirts and sweatshirts especially for the custom-shirt companies. Kind of like what you find in campus bookstores or Harley shops for $20-30, but with no logos or anything. They were very good quality shirts, made to last. You could go over there, and buy overrun or slightly irregular items pretty cheap. After about 35 years in business, employing local workers, they decided to move production to Honduras to cut costs. They did have a huge sale on leftover inventory, so I went over and stocked up. I have two barney-purple sweatshirts that have worn pretty well; I wear them outside to do yard work---if I wear them out and around, they do draw stares. I've had to stifle the urge to say "whaddyou lookin' at?" a few times. I am in favor of some protection of American industry, as long as it benefits the workers, not just enriches the corporate owners. That's the way it usually works out, though. And, as long as they don't expect littlebittymee to pay out $50 or something for a pair of jeans, just to save American jobs. See?
In this specific case I just find it rather ironic that my friend -- who is a great guy and who I actually like a lot -- rants and raves all the time on line about the labor injustices at Foxconn on his Apple devices that probably came out of those same factories.
:)) Some of them, maybe. Now, seriously. If you are to buy 2 shirts that look and feel absolutely the same, one costing $1 and one $10, what would you do? Or better said, what would most of us do?
Well, I can guess at what most would do. But what if the one dollar shirt was produced in poor work conditions or from an area with poor environmental practices or oppressive politics. Or if the $10 shirt used organic cotton. It's an overwhelming task to track every purchase, but it seems to me like a decent idea to at least try to know a little of the production history of what we buy.
After listening to the Planet Money saga about making their t-shirts I'd say that it's impossible to look at the two t-shirts and likely know much about either of them. Various aspects of Planet Money's shirts happened in several countries. And the women's shirts followed a different production path around the world than the men's did.
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