- trans-everything/anything, every human body part (yep) and every kind of tantrum a customer could throw, including items.
Out of everything I've learnt about retail and the world of commercial goods, the thing that bothers me the most is the international development insult I see during every shift.
Well, first lets start with a home-grown problem. The store, entire plaza, and every other plaza that is owned by this corporation) only recycles boxes. For any one who has ever shopped in their life, it is CLEAR how many hangers, bags, plastics, linings, tags, etc. are gone through in a regular day/week/year/decade.
Why are we not recycling our plastics? It breaks my heart every time I have to throw a plastic hanger into a garbage bin, so wrong.
But who's problem is this?
- Stay tuned for next blog on waste management*
Moving on to international issues, my store is not the only one guilty of evident use of sweatshops and long hours for manufacturers. But, how do I know any of this?
-When product prices can be reduced by 70% within a week
-When items have simple mistakes (straps backwards, missing tags) that are typical exhaustion mishaps
-When I see the exact same style of the exact same item come from Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
Whats the better deal, China, Pakistan, or a world with adequate working conditions?
We all see these topics in the news, everyone wants the new "fair trade" Tim Horton's coffee, we all have shopped at American Apparel, but nonetheless, we find ourselves consuming products we have no knowledge of, at the lowest prices we can get them for.
For any international development student or internationally conscious individual, it is upsetting to be confronted with the reality of free trade and the manufacturing industry; but it is the world we live in...
We can make changes, one step at a time, one product at a time, one plaza at a time.
The purpose of this blog was to make a statement and remind:
**I do not intend to offend,
and I am 100% guilty of this crime,
I just ask;
can we take a peek at the
tags every now and again?
I worked in retail too for about 3 years before I finally switched jobs and during that time I struggled with a LOT of the same issues. We only recycled boxes and I could not believe how much paper in particular went into the trash. No where in the area was there a blue box for recycling, not even in the plaza outside. I found it pretty ridiculous. I also tried not to buy products that came from sweatshops etc but it was difficult- why buy something at another store that I wouldn't get discounted when I could just buy it after my shift. Saved a lot of hassle but I felt guilty looking at the tags. My excuse was always that I was a struggling high school student but it still just that: an excuse. I'm trying to have better consumer practices but it's still a work in progress :)
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