In the BBC series Blackadder, Edmund Blackadder once proclaimed "I am one of those people who likes to wear cotton, but I have no idea how it works". The same might be said of plastics. "Nurdles" are what makes plastic. Tiny pre-production pellets that are the building blocks of all plastic products. These are shipped […]
Much has been made recently of the serious effects of much higher air pollution blanketing large parts of the world, especially in developing countries. In Northern Thailand, where many of ETHEQ's products originate, haze pollution has been growing every year over the last decade and has become particularly acute in the last two years. During […]
In what can only be considered a looming environmental disaster, a recent study from the University of Southern Denmark has concluded that globally 129 billion disposable face masks are thrown away every month - that's 3 million a minute. NANOPLASTICS These masks contain potentially hazardous materials such as toxic micro- and nanoplastics and might also […]
Do they work? There has been a lot of news around recommendations on wearing cloth masks in the past weeks as COVID-19 continues to spread around the world. Reversing prior advice, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending everyone wear cloth face masks in public settings such as pharmacies and […]
Forget business as usual – its time reduce the garment industry’s carbon footprint Within the garment industry, there is a lot of discussion about how climate change will impact on supply chains. Suppliers are concerned about how climate change will increase infrastructure and logistics risks, reduce the quality and access to raw materials and prompt […]
Demand for cotton is huge. It's the most used natural fibre in the world - 27 billion kilograms was produced in 2017 at an estimated worldwide value of USD 77 billion. That's great isn't it? Natural fibre... farmers in developing countries benefit... good for the economy? Well not really. Cotton has a dirty secret and […]
We know that cooperatives are a thing of the past - they have been around since the dawn of humanity - but are they also the future? Cooperatives already lift millions of people out of poverty, they empower workers to take control of their own wages and conditions, they cut out exploitation in supply chains […]
You may have heard of 3D jobs - dirty, dangerous and difficult - and migrant workers in Thailand are over-represented in these jobs. Many migrant workers remain undocumented, leaving them exposed to abuse by unscrupulous employers. But even registered migrant workers and Thais suffer shocking working conditions in industries including fishing, agriculture, construction and notably, […]
