Random Rants
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for those in need of yet another explanation to justify the last IH purchase:
CHINA: Investigation uncovers widespread textile pollution
By: just-style.com | 2 December 2010Every morning, workers at a denim factory in GuangDong must search wastewater to scoop out stones that are washed with the fabric to make stonewash denim.
Qiu Bo/GreenpeaceChina's textile industry is being urged to clean up its act after investigations uncovered widespread pollution in two textile factory towns in Guangdong province that make blue jeans and bras.
The probe by environmental campaign group Greenpeace found high concentrations of heavy metals in toxic discharges at Xintang and Gurao.
And it is now calling on the local government to launch an investigation into the sources of pollution, and the textile industry to take steps to reduce and eliminate the use and release of hazardous chemicals during production.
Xintang is known as the 'Blue Jeans Capital of the World' since more than 40% of its jeans are exported to the US, the EU, Russia and other countries. It produces 260m pairs of jeans annually, or more than 60% of China's total jeans production and equivalent to 40% of all the jeans sold in the US each year.
Meanwhile, 80% of Gurao's economy is related to the underwear and lingerie industry. Each year the so-called 'Capital of Sexy' produces 200m bras - enough for one-third of the woman in China.
"Xintang and Gurao are symbols of success in China's export-model economy, yet we were horrified by the environmental degradation we saw during our fieldwork visits from April to September," said Greenpeace Toxics campaigner Mariah Zhao.
"Though we cannot pinpoint the pollution sources definitively at this stage, it's worth noting that textile is the dominant industry in both towns by a long run."
Testing by an independent laboratory revealed heavy metals such as copper, cadmium, and lead in 17 out of 21 samples of water and sediment from Xintang and Gurao. One sediment sample from Xintang contained cadmium at concentrations 128 times in excess of national environmental standards.
"Dyeing, washing, bleaching, and printing are some of the dirtiest processes in the textile industry, requiring high volumes of water as well as heavy metals and other chemicals," explained Zhao. "And Xintang is home to the complete blue jean manufacturing process, including dyeing, bleaching, and washing."
Workers in the industry also testified to Greenpeace, commenting on the smell and colour of the water discharged from the dyeing factories upstream.
"With China nicknamed 'the Factory of the World,' it's important to remember that Xintang and Gurao are emblematic of the larger problem of dirty textile manufacturing - they are just two of 133 textile industrial clusters in the country," Zhao added.
"The responsibility of wastewater regulation and phasing out hazardous chemicals in textile manufacturing must be faced by not only Xintang and Gurao's industries and government, but also throughout China."
"We also hope that consumers will join us in pushing for change from the government and their favourite clothing companies. It would be tragic if fashion and economics comes at the cost of China's clean water resources."
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quick rant:
why is it the folks that win the Iron Heart UK sponsored auctions hardly post photos of their wins???
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injunjack , anytime i see a post from you pop up i start to drool . . . . pause
i guess that's sort of a rant against my belly & your fine cuisine, hehehehe
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that's why I could never get myself to buy a pair of decent sunglasses, I loose them all the time - or sit on them..
We can do anything
http://bybeatle.com -
I personally hate sunglasses. It freaks me out when I talk to someone and don't know if he's paying attention to the brilliant stuff I'm telling him/her
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i feel like i should stop focusing on small details in my papers for school, it eats up too much of my allotted word count.
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It's 2:30 in the morning, my wife has been asleep for hours and I'm exhausted. My 3 year old son, however, is wide awake and refuses to stay in bed. I may have to shoot him.
That's my IH coaster he's playing with, by the way. I'm fully expecting him to toss it out our 14th floor window, because he's just that evil.
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i luv it chris
**nothing like knowing your children, hahahahahahaha
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We have a had a total of USD3,000 of chargebacks from Malaysia and Indonesia in the last month. I'm seriously considering only shipping to people there who we "know". A chargeback is basically fraudulent use of a credit card or PayPal. In every case, we have followed the advice we have been given, but we have still been stiffed.
I am in a VERY bad mood…................
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And seriously, I would cut off my right bollock to find an alternative to those faceless feckers at PayPal. On USD2,400 of these frauds, they told me that they believed it was OK to ship. Guess what, when I tell them to go back and listen the the taped telephone calls, F all happens…................
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totally can understand you, I had those problems in the past as well. Until to a point when I told them in a very direct way, that they either find a solution to protect my business in proper way, or that I will A. no longer accepted any payments through them and B. take massive legal actions against them (favored-crime activity, etc) … surprisingly after those launched threads ;), all further fraud attempts were voted in my favor. And since around 2 years they are no more than like 1-2 attempts throughout a year and I get some k's in...
and if I have a bad feeling by a order I just cancell it or tell the customer that due security reasons I will only accept a Western Union payment from him...
i feel like crap!
