A film exposing the dark side of the cotton industry has been released by the Fairtrade Foundation for use in schools.
The 12-minute video explores the lives of cotton farmers and garment workers in India, who despite working long days can barely afford food. The film also looks at the Rana Plaza clothing factory collapse in Bangladesh, were 1,138 factory workers lost their lives.
Along with the film, a series of free online resources have also been released for use in the classroom, including cotton-themed activities, lesson plans and assembly scripts to help raise awareness of the darker side to the cotton industry, and the ways pupils can help combat it by looking out for fair trade clothing.
“One of the most effective ways of changing the way our clothes are grown and made is to tell big brands what we want,” said Subindu Garkhel, cotton manager at the Fairtrade Foundation. “By letting your favourite clothes shop or brand know that you want your clothes to have been made fairly they’ll start to sit up and take notice.”
To access the film and resources, click here.
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