Ethical Textiles: Sustainability and Fair Trade: Environmental Impacts What does it mean for developing-world workers when prices for clothing and fabric keep dropping? What happens when Westerners buy more and more, driving up demand? How does ecological impact fit into the equation? Global in scope, this three-part series explores the ethical and environmental fallout of large-scale textile production. It follows the work of manufacturers in the U.K. and Bangladesh as it investigates the consequences of ultra-cheap labour and supply systems. In addition, it examines fair trade initiatives developed in response to industry abuses, inequities, and hazards. A crucial resource for economics, sociology, and environmental studies! 3-part series, 25 minutes each. What would happen if we changed the way our clothes are made and sold? If we used different fibres or different agricultural techniques? If we insisted that facilities which produce textile products dispose of chemicals and materials properly? This program assesses the environmental impact of the textile industry both in the U.K. and abroad. It explores the ecological footprint of textile production in Bangladesh, and shows how the true cost of cheap textiles is being felt by the very poorest living downstream from polluting textile factories. It also looks at how companies are working to reduce the harmful results of their presence in the ecosystem by using state-of-the-art water recycling plants and by making better use of their waste streams. A part of the series Ethical Textiles: Sustainability and Fair Trade. (27 minutes) 1. Challenges of Textiles (00:40) Making fabric requires massive amounts of energy, uses up vast quantities of natural resources, and often leaves huge quantities of waste. 2. Water & Energy Use (02:44) Textiles account for 80% of Bangladesh's exports. Environmental problems are ignored largely because of cut-throat global competition for cheap goods. Keeping thousands of t