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SAINSBURY'S DENIES DOUBLE STANDARDS IN 'BAG FOR LIFE' ROW
By Terri Judd Published: 28 April 2007
(adapted from The Independent)
Sainsbury's was embroiled in an embarrassing row yesterday after claims that its "green" shopping bag was anything but ethical.
Customers queued before dawn on Wednesday to snap up 20,000 of the carriers with the slogan "I'm not a plastic bag", made by designer Anya Hindmarch - whose handbags retail for as much as £1,175.
The £5 tote was promoted by the supermarket as an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic and became a fashion phenomenon. Within hours they were being sold on eBay for hundreds of pounds.
But yesterday it emerged that the bag was made in China, a country known for appalling labour conditions. And environmentalists described as hypocritical the use of conventional, rather than Fairtrade, cotton.
Last night, Sainsbury's denied any double standard, insisting it had never claimed the bag was Fairtrade and that the factory in China had been checked to ensure it did not exploit local workers.
Campaigners remained sceptical, however. Sam Maher of Labour Behind the Label said: "If you market an environmentally ethical product, the onus is on you to see it is ethically produced and there is no way you can do that in China. I would challenge Sainsbury's to publish the name of the supplier and its audit report."
Martin Hearson, of the group's Let's Clean Up Fashion campaign, said the move was bordering on hypocritical. Workers in China's garment industry are paid 20p to 30p an hour, he said. While labour law in the country can seem reasonable on paper, experts insist implementation is poor.
Ms Maher continued: "Independent trade unions are illegal. Whatever you buy from China, workers do not have that basic right. The Ethical Trading Initiative has said that audits are susceptible to fraud."
The group added that the use of conventional cotton was contrary to environmental credentials.
"It is one of the most environmentally destructive materials. The amount of pesticides makes it a massively destructive cash crop."
A spokesman for the supermarket said: "We have never claimed the bag was Fairtrade or organic. The point of the bag is that it isn't plastic and can be reused.
"The bag was designed to raise awareness of the use of disposable plastic bags, a goal which it has achieved internationally."
The supermarket said the carrier was made in a factory that pays double the minimum wage for that province and complies with all aspects of Chinese labour law, as well as having operations reviewed by a human rights consultant.
A spokesman for Anya Hindmarsh said: "Our aim has been to use our influence to make it fashionable not to use plastic bags. 'I'm Not A Plastic Bag' was designed to be a stylish, practical, reusable bag that would raise awareness of this issue and spark debate. We feel that we have achieved this aim beyond our wildest dreams."
They also denied claims about the bag's carbon footprint, saying they were shipped in by sea and were carbon offsetted.
Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/lifestyle/article2491775.ece
(488 words)
End of Recording
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Essay Question
Listen to the tape carefully, then discuss this statement in light of what The Independent discloses on designer Anya Hindmarch's bag: ´ 'I'm Not A Plastic Bag' was designed to be a stylish, practical, reusable bag that would raise awareness of this issue and spark debate.ª
Write a 400 to 450 word essay- rephrase as much as possible. Borrowing too much from the tape will be counted against you.
The article recapped much of what had been said in class. Papers were expected to mention AND explain- that it to say rephrase- the main points which are cursorily listed here:
- one of designer Anya Hindmarch's bag was sold for £5 by British retail giant Sainsbury's : it is not made of plastic and is therefore reusable.
- the bag was sold as an environmentally friendly substitute for plastic.
- this move combined a marketing promotion of Sainsbury's & Anya Hindmarch's and a concern for the environment,
- however, the bag was shown to be a product of unethical practices : it was manufactured in China where workers were said to be grossly underpaid and overworked (23 to 30p an hour) and to be denied independent unions.
- The bag is not made of fairtrade cotton : the cotton used was not organically produced and heavily relied on pesticides
- Labour Behind the Label is a not-for-profit company registered in England which launched a campaign called Let's Clean up Fashion .
- This company debunked the high street retailer's claims about their ethical programs.
-However, both Sainsbury's and designer Anya Hindmarch denied any double standard (they argue their promotional campaigns only claimed the bag was a substitute for plastic)
- Both are very happy with the results of their campaign.
For Further Reading
http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/
http://www.behindthelabel.org/index.php
(the American website)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Behind_the_Label
Sample Essays
Here are two essays written by students. They are presented because we hope they might help you assess what should be avoided at all costs and what should be attempted, which is equally crucial for your success.
Rather expectedly, our concern is not to print major grammatical mistakes. Those have been corrected but no other change has been made otherwise. Read and pay attention to what WE pay attention to : the line of arguments, the relevance of the discourse in view of the question asked, the quality of the examples proffered, the use of class material, linguistic variety, etc.
Sample Essay 1
This article was published in the Independent on April 28. It deals with an environmental issue, namely non-plastic bags. Gainsbury supermarket has set up 20 000 carriers and has promoted new handbags thanks to the slogan « I'm not a Plastic Bag ».
The supermarket considered this bag an alternative to plastic bags.
People are not happy because the bag is made in China Where workers are not happy.
Some people claim that Chinese workers are paid between 20 and 40 pence per hour.
Environmentalists find it hypocritical to produce bags rather than to practise fair trade. Indeed, fair trade would be more efficient for Chinese workers.
Gainsbury has reached its goal : the new bag has sparked a debate. In addition to the exploitation of Chinese workers, the bag seems to be destructive of the environment.
The company tries to do its best to defend itself and to emphasize the advantages of the product which is not that ethically respectful of the environment.
So, this bag is nice. May be people are now aware of « good environmental practices » but Gainsbury has a burning issue.
183 words : the length is inadequate .
Note the major mistake on the name of Sainsbury's. To say that this is an unpardonable blunder is an understatement. This is a real howler. Also note the other mistakes on figures ( 20 000/ 40p), the twisting of ideas (« to produce bags rather than to practise fair trade ») and the number of elements which are left unmentioned.
Note the clumsy listing of sentences and see how disorganised the line of arguments is : there is no clear introduction, main part and conclusion. Sentences are isolated instead of being integrated into a coherent homogeneous whole. This is a major flaw : there is no line of argument, no sense of a continuity between one point to the next.
Next, observe that the paper is disconnected from the question asked - which remains untouched. The designer's comment was devious enough to speak the truth while lying about their attempt at manipulating the public voluntarily. This is clearly beyond the reach of the essay.
Besides, look at the repetition of basic easy words like « deal with » and « happy ». Words of Latin origin abound because they are closer to the student's native language. The effect on the reader is disastrous.
Finally, pay a closer look at the use of basic verbs, then at the dismal lack of modal verbs (no may / might / ought to / had rather , etc.). This is all the more shocking as the paper clearly shows the student learned a few phrases from class and tried to reuse them. However, this is clearly not enough.
This essay was deemed sub-standard and received a low mark ( 06/20).
Sample Essay 2
This April 28, 2007 article from the British newspaper The Independent addresses the issue of ethics in business and Fair Trade which has been gathering momentum in the last decade or so. The article lays the stress on concepts like ethics and equity in international trading relations and in areas such as the environment, profit-sharing agreements with workers in Third World countries and labor rights. In this context, the British retailer Sainsbury's has recently come under heavy fire after its fashionable bag « I'm not a Plastic Bag » designed by Anya Hindmarch was revealed to be coming from China, a country which is well-known for cutting corners in terms of Labor Rights. The bag was intended to « raise the awareness » of ethical issues and trigger a debate. The question I will try to address is : did it succeed in doing so ? What is the nature of this success ? At first sight, the aim targetted by Sainsbury's and designer Anya Hindmarch's was achieved. The bag is not made of disposable plastic and was a real hit. The huge sales allowed the retailer to reap large profits. The name of Anya Hindmarch is by now so well-known that the bag became a fashion phenomenon like other ethical trade goods such as Fair Trade coffee sold by Starbucks'. The reason for the success is that the British retailer also contended that the bag was environmentally friendly and that their company had complied with Chinese labor laws while making sure that local workers were handsomely treated. Their claim is crucial to designer Anya Hindmarch's since they are supposed to guarantee the honesty of their joint promotional campaign. So, the question whether they meet ethical criteria is decisive to assess designer Anya Hindmarch's statement.
The activists Labor Behind the Label and campaigners from Let's Clean Up Fashion take strong exception to the fact that Sainsbury's behaves in a hypocritical manner. No matter what they praise in China- their representative's monitoring local human rights or workers receiving double paychecks the bag is just a masquerade which hides the company s true agenda. Abiding by Chinese labor laws does not imply that ethical concerns are met with. This is why the company is named and shamed. This naming and shaming is also detrimental to the image of Anya Hindmarch which is tarnished.
Through this paper, I've tried to show that Anya Hindmarch's bag was in the news and made activists shed ink but the whole thing is damaging to Sainsbury's and the designer, as it blew the whistle on their hypocritical claims. And even such an article is a whistleblower.
The length is 435 words
The essay was written within the limits of the exam paper and it has some very strong points: the lay out is visually explicit, the line of arguments is clear and straightforward, there is no tiresome repetition of the same points- once they are made, the paper moves on.
The contents fit the tape which is accounted for even if some minor pieces of information proving the understanding of the tape are missing. And the linguistic variety is ever so refreshing.
You probably recognised bits and pieces from class documents and this is quite remarkable. As a matter of fact, this is how we know you attended classes on an attentive basis and actually learned from them. Attending classes as part of a passive audience is not good enough. Memorising and using ONLY relevant class material is what you are expected to do.
This paper is clear, to the point. It answered the question asked about designer Anya Hindmarch while connecting the arguments to Sainsbury's. It got an A (18/20).
Crib notes and Cheating
We wish to remind students that having a cell phone hidden under one's shirt or one's skirt is considered an act of cheating.
No electronic appliance is permitted on the premisses when taking an exam.
Should a cell phone be discovered in a student's possession, it will be confiscated and handed over to Le Service des Examens .
We also wish to thank the courageous students who reported an act of cheating to the Sorbonne Disciplinary Commission. They were well aware that cheating demeans the cheater and devalues the degree so dishonestly sought after by a few but so well deserved by the large majority of students who are trustworthy, hard-working and honest. -----------------------------
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