Pachacuti - Panama Hats and Fair Trade Clothing

Fair Trade changes lives and makes a very real difference to the livelihoods of workers around the world in the garment industry.  We monitor our entire supply chain, carry out ecomapping, check labour and environmental standards, calculate a fair price with our producer groups and create annual improvement plans.  Our monitoring system is then externally audited, both in the UK and in Ecuador.

Many are not fortunate enough to be working in Fair Trade conditions and we have seen a tragic reminder of the true cost of fashion in Bangladesh.  A number of companies did not even know if they were producing at Rana Plaza, such is the network of contractors and subcontractors within the normal fashion supply chain.

If Pachacuti, as a very small fashion company, can monitor wages and working conditions of all of our suppliers, measure carbon emissions throughout the supply chain and provide full transparency and traceability for raw materials and components, right down to the GPS co-ordinates of each weavers' house, shouldn't major fashion brands also be accountable to the people buying their clothes and accessories and to the workers producing them? 

In the aftermath of another garment factory disaster, Fair Trade pioneers call on mainstream fashion brands to adopt best practice standards 

Yesterday, an eight-storey building, housing garment factories and shops, collapsed in Dhaka, killing over 200 and injuring over 1600.  Fair Trade pioneers meeting in London today called upon all fashion brands sourcing in Bangladesh to improve health and safety and labour standards within the workplace.   

Fair Trade Pioneers are calling upon brands who source, or have sourced from these factories to fund immediate compensation for injuries and for loss of earnings, and for families who have lost their loved ones and their breadwinners.  We also call on all brands sourcing in Bangladesh to sign and enforce the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement.

It is estimated that an additional 7p per garment over 5 years could pay for all necessary renovations to garment factories in Bangladesh.  Can consumers really not pay this little extra to ensure the safety of the people who make their clothes?  

Most Bangladeshi garment workers earn the minimum wage which is amongst the lowest in the world and would only cover just over half the monthly cost of living in a slum.

Fair Trade creates opportunities for hundreds of people in Bangladesh in the rural areas, to hand weave, hand embroider and tailor garments through Fair Trade at fair wages, and for hundreds more in other countries. Consumers can ask brands to take responsibility and meet the real human cost of producing fashion. Consumers can choose fashion which empowers rather than exploits. We need to find a solution to the downward spiral of low prices that force factory owners and workers alike to take ridiculous risks with their safety and health day after day. 

Safia Minney, MBE Founder and CEO of People Tree – UK & Japan 

“‘In 18 years of working with the Bangladeshi trade unions and visiting garment workers in their homes, I regularly hear them ask “Do the people in your country really want us to work this hard for so little money? Do they understand how hungry and desperate our living situation is?” Two million workers, mostly young women, generate 80% of the country’s exports – but they earn a minimum wage of just £25 per month. The trade unions have been asking for a multi stake holder approach for years. This is exactly what Fair Trade does. The garment industry has a lot to learn from the Fair Trade movement. ” 

Carry Somers, Founder and Managing Director at Pachacuti – Ashbourne – UK 

“This tragedy starkly highlights the difference in labour standards between fast, cheap fashion and Fair Trade fashion. Disposable fashion should not equate to disposable lives and brands have a responsibility to ensure safer working conditions. Pachacuti received a comprehensive Fair Trade audit yesterday and monitoring of our producers working conditions was pronounced ‘excellent’ by the auditor. If Pachacuti, as a micro business, can carry out comprehensive monitoring of all suppliers, why can’t larger fashion brands?” 

Christine Gent, Director at Fairly Covered - Brighton – UK 

“If you subscribe to Fair Trade then being transparent about your supply chain, engaging with the people who make the goods to ensure that basic requirements are met is not up for negotiation. Fair Trade for us is about making socially and environmentally sustainable bedding not just making money! Fairly Covered imports Fair Trade sustainable bedding from Bangladesh, hand woven in rural situations creating and maintaining jobs outside Dhaka.” 

Members of the World Fair Trade Organisation go beyond minimum compliance criteria and actively involve producers and employees in all decision making and works to improve working conditions within producer groups.  Pachacuti carries out eco-mapping of each one of our producer premises to identify environmental and health & safety issues in our producers’ production processes and premises, examining use of water, storage of chemicals, health of workers, machinery & emissions, use of energy, risk of accident and contamination.  

WFTO is a global community of pioneering and passionate change-makers, responsible for the development of the sustainable Fair Trade economy. WFTO’s 450 members are organisations differentiated by their 100% Fair Trade commitment to eradicate poverty through sustainable economic development. WFTO has a vision of a world in which trade structures and practices have been transformed to work in favour of the poor and promote sustainable development and justice.

When one thinks of Ecuador, what often comes to mind are the stunning Sierra landscapes of the Andes Mountains or the Galapagos Islands and their endemic species made famous by Darwin.  What travellers often overlook is Ecuador’s Amazonian region, known as the Oriente, which runs along the east of the country at base of the Andes and borders Colombia and Peru. In north-east part of the Oriente lies the Reserva Faunística Cuyabeno (Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve) which was created in 1979 and is one of Ecuador’s largest reserves, encompasses over six thousand square kilometres of rainforest. The area is populated by Amazonian indigenous tribes including the Kichwa, Cofán, Secoya, Siona and Shuar who were semi-nomadic and lived by fishing, hunting and gathering. Now all have settled in riverside communities, grow crops and receive limited income mostly through eco-tourism activities in the area

Throughout the Amazon region, most protected areas are only accessible by travel along the very wide branches of the Amazon River. What makes the Cuyabeno unique is its landscape of navigable, but narrow rivers which snake their way through the jungle, yet periodically open up into beautiful lagoons. With all the rain that “rainforest” implies and endless volumes of water draining off the Andes, these rivers often flood into the surrounding forest. This allows the dense and impenetrable jungle to become accessible for travel by boat and gives the traveller the ability to spot great numbers of wildlife from the water.

 As one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world, the reserves boasts more than 165 species of mammals, including 10 species of monkeys, Tapirs, 2 species of deer, Jaguars and Pumas, Manatees, Giant Otter and the famed Pink River Dolphin. With over 580 species of birds and counting, 96 species of amphibians, more than 12,000 species of flora and seemingly countless insect species, make the Cuyabeno an unforgettable place to visit.

Ecuador has a long history of environmental disasters caused by past oil drilling. Texaco (now a part of Chevron) is still in litigation over oil drilling in Ecuador beginning in 1964. Indigenous communities and settlers allege that the documented high rates of cancer and miscarriages that they are suffering are direct results of the intentional dumping of 68 million liters of crude oil into the rainforest. In 2011, an Ecuadorean court ordered Chevron to pay $19 billion for oil contamination caused by Texaco.  In addition, oil extraction is still causing problems through toxic waste and spills that have drained into the Cuyabeno basin. Roads built into the jungle by the oil companies, also bring indirect effects such as illegal deforestation and the poaching of wild animals

But oil is Ecuador’s top export, providing one third of its revenue in a country where close to 30% of the people live below the poverty line.  Currently the government of Ecuador, headed by newly reelected President Rafael Correa plans to sell off oil development rights in the Pastaza and Morona Santiago provinces located in the southeastern region of the Amazon.  The area up for grabs is almost entirely pristine, covers nearly 10,000 acres, and is home to seven indigenous nationalities. Known as 11th Round Oil Auction, it is currently opposed by all at the indigenous groups in the affected region who have long resisted oil drilling on their ancestral lands, fearing that the arrival of extractive industries would damage their water supply and threaten their traditional way of life.

To learn more about the Ecuador Amazon and the efforts being taken to protect the it and the indigenous communities who live there visit Pachamama Alliance and Amazon Watch. Both are NGO's who are currently running campaigns to prevent 11th Round Oil Auction from taking place. 

Easter Bonnets were traditionally decorated with flowers as a way to celebrate Spring.  Spring may still seem far off as I write with deep snow drifts surrounding our cottage, but here are some perfect Easter hats just to tempt you for when the temperature starts to rise.  Easter has traditionally been the time to change those winter clothes for some bright new Spring shades and a hat is a perfect way to bring some of the season's signature colours into your wardrobe.  Rather than Easter Eggs, think sugared almonds...

Pachacuti's Delaunay Panama has a great, vintage brocade ribbon, whilst the Margarita brings in some on-trend pink with just a hint of the season's hottest colour, fuschia, as an accent on the hat band.

My favourite hat of the season is this Lemon Voyager, rollable and flattering, it's a great hat for so many different occasions and definitely the one I'll be taking on holiday this year.  Yellow is not only symbolic of Easter, but also conveys a strong sense of optimism.  I'll certainly be happy when Spring really does show its face. Meanwhile, in a fabulous rose and lemon combination, the Miami Deco with its extra wide brim is definitely a hat for keeping cool once the temperature really does start to rise.

It may be a while until your holidays, but this Aqua hat will remind you of swimming in warm coastal waters.  Pastel aqua is a flattering colour for many people and combines well with so many other shades.  Pachacuti is working to incorporate more traditional skills from various producers into each of our hats and this Rose Maya Panama hat has a hand-loomed, Fair Trade ribbon and, as we ensure that all elements of our hat are as ethically sourced as possible, even the leather loop is Fair Trade.

Happy Easter from Pachacuti and don't forget your Easter bonnet!