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Ethical Rating Tracker by Fabrisource

Submitted by: on Aug 09, 2011 at 9:53 pm Tagged with: B2B, Child Labor, Consumer Initiative, Pollution, Sweat-Shops, Textile Industry Source: Press Release by Fabrisource

COLUMBIA, S.C. (August 9, 2011) Columbia-based Fabrisource, a business to business textile portal, has launched their EaRTh (Ethical Rating Tracker) project, as a service for consumers. The program is being launched on Kickstarter, the worlds’ largest funding platform for creative works.

Fabrisource’s EaRTh or Ethical Rating Tracker is a free application under development where consumers can find the ethical rating of the manufacturer that made the clothes and textiles they are about to buy.

For example, a student might want to buy a particular name brand of jeans. An EaRTh check will display the entire supply chain of the product you are considering buying AND the associated Ethical Rating of the manufacturers that were involved in making it. In this way consumers can decide whether their dollars are being spent responsibly in support of their desires to have sweatshop-free clothing and textiles.

“With Kickstarter, our customers can vote with their wallets. We are helping to bring them an Internet-based rating tracker that helps everyone become more conscientious consumers of clothing, fabrics and textiles,” said Fabrisource founder Prasanna Eswara.

EaRTh, a free app., will be hosted at fabrisource.org and available to the public. It will also be available as a freely downloadable App for iPhone and Android Market.

“We could have charged for the app., but we really want to get this into the hands of the most people possible so we are instead encouraging people who are concerned about the environment, sweatshop labor and the safety/sustainability of their textile products to contribute to our effort through Kickstarter,” Eswara added.

Kickstarter, www.kickstarter.com, is a place for people to launch creative projects and/or find grass roots funding for their projects. Interested “fans” can contribute money to help the projects to fruition. Contributions start at $1 and Fabrisource has several rewards at different dollar levels for those interested in contributing. All contributions are returned if the goal is not met. According to Eswara, Fabrisource’s goal for Kickstarter is to raise $36,000 in 60 days.

With the EaRTh launch Fabrisource is moving one more giant step forward towards making responsible textiles a reality. It all started when Prasanna Eswara, a former textile machinery salesman saw first-hand the plight of textile workers and a general disregard for strong pollution control in the industry, especially in developing countries and decided to do something about it. Fabrisource was founded with a mission to “End sweat-shops, child labor, and pollution and help build a sustainable textile community”.

According to published statistics, there are over 2.4 million sweat-shop workers and millions of child laborers. Anywhere from 40 to 50,000 tons of dyes and chemicals get into the water system year after year (1/10th of the Gulf oil spill), in many cases polluting the only drinkable water source for nearby communities. “We believe the only way we can bring this to an end is, if you the consumer can distinguish between the good guys and bad guys. EaRTh will help you do just that.” said Prasanna Eswara, founder, Fabrisource.

The firm was recently named a laureate in the 2011 Computerworld Honors Program for “using information technology to benefit society.” Eswara’s TEDx Talk on “Socially Responsible Sourcing” can be viewed at tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxGreenville-Prasanna-Eswara

Supporters can pledge anywhere from $1 to how much ever they can to fund this project. You can show your support by clicking on the “back this project” green button at this link http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/728401120/ethical-rating-tracker-ear...