Trouble for Topshop today as War on Want demand sweatshop action

If you’re going near any branches of Topshop today, chances are you’ll find they’re a bit busier than usual. No – they haven’t slashed the cost of Kate Moss range, and there’s no magic money off coupon doing the rounds: the stores are being picketed by War on Want, a group opposed to poverty and exploitation.

This isn’t the first time that Arcadia, the umbrella organisation that owns Topshop run by Philip Green, has come under fire over human rights. In fact, today’s activity marks the one-year anniversary of a report also brought to public attention by War on Want, which claimed that Bangladeshi workers employed by the chain were paid just 5p an hour for an 80-hour week. A researcher working on behalf of War on Want said today that ‘I have kept in touch with workers from the Bangladeshi factories. Their pay and conditions have not improved’.

Philip Green, whose clothing empire makes him worth £5 billion has so far refused to comment. Back in August, he denied similar allegations about Arcadia, but today’s news would imply that little or nothing has been done to improve workers’ conditions.

via: hippyshopper

Can you help the planet just by searching the web?

The Bite
We don’t just think you can. We know you can. Little search engines that could support your fave causes and save energy – and are as free and as easy to use as Google.

The Benefits

• The same good results. These search engines pull their results from the Google or Yahoo databases.
• Donating to charity. Get on the donation train – each search you do via a charity search engine generates about $0.01 for good causes (the money comes from the ads on search-engine sites).
• Saving energy. Some engines have a dark background color instead of white, which when viewed on older, CRT monitors – consumes 20% less energy than typical engines.

Wanna Try?

• GoodSearch – powered by Yahoo, it donates 50% of revenues to a charity you choose each time you search.
• Blackle – an unofficial black version of Google that uses less energy than the white version on some screens (for a more colorful option, try The Green Spider).
• CatchTomorrow – customizable news, weather, and search options; donates 50% of revenues to the public school district of your choice.
• Green Maven – though it’s not for charity, this Google-based search engine yields results from green-related websites only.

 

via: idealbite.com