Children as young as 3 pick through waste products thrown away by Lesotho garment factories. They collect off-cuts from jeans to burn for cooking, sifting through hazardous materials in their search. Companies including Gap and Levis have set up manufacturing bases here. The process of manufacturing and dying garments, especially jeans, has led to a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe. Local water is turned blue from dyes, and off-cuts, dumped and burnt, pollute the air. Chemical waste poses a hazard to the hundred’s of men, women, and young children that daily sort through the waste looking for recyclable material.
In July 2009 I witnessed children as young as 3 picking through waste products thrown away by Lesotho garment factories. The children are often collecting off-cuts from jeans to burn for cooking. They must sift through hazardous materials including toxic chemicals and sharp cutting instruments. The smoke from the smouldering waste causes respiratory illnesses and eyes to sting and weep. Major western garment companies including Gap and Levis have set up manufacturing bases in the Southern African country’s capital Maseru. They take advantage of very low wages and an impoverished population eager for work. The process of manufacturing and dying hundred’s of thousands of garments, especially jeans for Gap and Levis, has led to a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe. Local water is turned blue from dyes, and off-cuts, dumped and burnt, pollute the air. Chemical waste thrown into the dump poses a hazard to the hundred’s of men, women, and young children that daily sort through the waste looking for recyclable material.