We all make choices every single day. From smaller issues such as what time we set the alarm, what we have for breakfast, what movie to see, to bigger picture things, like who we fall in love with, the sort of person we choose to be. With each decision comes accountability and responsibility. With something’s, this accountability and responsibility is more obvious. If I set the alarm, I get up on time. If I don’t, I risk sleeping in, and being late for work/school/life.

With other choices, especially those involving purchasing products, we can tend to make assumptions. This looks like a nice coffee shop, the people here are really friendly, I will assume there are not rats running around the kitchen and they don’t spit in my coffee before they hand it to me. So we let them be responsible and accountable for the coffee we choose to drink.

However, I can take some responsibility in this process, I can choose to only go to a cafe that serves fair trade and organically grown coffee, and milk that is also organically sourced.

In doing so, I am ensuring that, even though I am not making the primary purchasing decision on the raw materials used in the coffee I purchase, I can be accountable for the coffee by aligning myself with a source that is both fair trade and organic.

This is easier to do in some cases than others. Coffee shops will proudly display their bags of ethically sourced coffee beans and organically produced milk products.

With apparel that is a little harder. It is highly unlikely you will walk into a store, which has bolts of organically grown and produced fabrics hanging from the ceiling, or garments with labels trumpeting the labour conditions and healthy salaries paid to workers for its construction.

And clothes are an emotional purchase, sometimes a necessity, but often something just catches our eye, makes us feel good, gives us a lift after a rough day on the blocks.

In this situation, we tend to think the brands we love have our best interest at heart. We hope they take the moral & ethical decisions we would expect, when they are getting the garment made on the other side of the world. In some cases they are, but often, especially if you are looking at racks and racks of the same item, marveling at how many you can buy and still have money to go out that night, often they are not even aware of the exact conditions the workers enjoy.

When they are dealing with such large quantities, in countries like Bangladesh, it is difficult to micromanage the garment production process, where factories outsource to sweatshops. Here you will often find young children, often working 14 hours a day for $1, beaten, deprived of reasonable breaks, workers locked into the factory till the early hours. Dyestuffs and toxic chemicals spill out into the river systems, killing fish and destroying the food chain and livelihood of local communities. All in the name of fashion.

So how can we be accountable? Being accountable – means exactly that. As a consumer, it means taking fundamental decisions before making a purchase.

• Is there something already in my wardrobe that I haven’t worn for ages that would do just as well? Do I really need this?
• What is it made from? Is it a natural fibre that I know will breakdown when it finally makes it to landfill. Or is it made from polyester, acrylic, nylon, synthetic fibres, that leave a huge carbon footprint in their creation, chosen because they are cheap to produce, and will take up to 200 years to breakdown in garbage. What is the actual effect on the planet of my purchase?
• Where is it made? Does the brand provide confirmation it is sweatshop free, and demands ethical and fair work conditions for it machinists. Is it sweatshop free?

Unfortunately maintaining ethical standards is not cheap. Don’t get me wrong, they are not prohibitively expensive either. Like anything in life, you pay for what you get. The issue is more, the dominant players in the fashion market, maintain their dominance through price. They are just so cheap, sometimes buying a new top is as simple a decision as do I feel like a coffee. However someone, somewhere is paying the price.

As a manufacturer, being accountable means doing exhaustive research to align yourself with ethical manufacturers who:

• Source raw materials with minimal carbon footprint.
• Use dyestuffs and chemical washes that are non toxic, both for workers & the environment.
• Have factories with extensive recycling facilities, so all water used in the fabric or garment construction is filtered and processed to approved standards before it is released back into the environment.
• Have adult workers who receive a living wage, and have safe working conditions, with regular breaks, with no fear of bullying or loss of job.

Being accountable and responsible means thinking longer term than what you will wear out tonight, it means thinking about the way you expect people to be treated, and the world you will leave for future generations.