Carry on camping?
Katy Brown takes a trip through the world of tents and camping equipment.
This report looks at tents
and covers all of the big brands and most smaller brands available in the
UK.
Many of the brands available in the UK are made by UK independent companies.
The consumer demand for high quality camping gear drives these companies
to strive for excellence in product design, producing increasingly higher
specification equipment and delivering excellent customer service. However,
most of these companies don’t appear to give a second thought to the
people who actually make their products.
The majority of tents and other camping gear is now manufactured in the
Far East with its associated workers’ rights problems. Of the companies
covered only four - Vaude, Blacks Leisure Group (Blacks and Eurohike), VF Corporation (North Face) and The
Pentland Group (makers of Berghaus, owned by Robert Stephen Holdings) -
have a code of conduct for workers at supplier companies. These companies
only receive half marks however, as their supplier factories are not independently
monitored, so there is no guarantee that these policies are upheld. In the
case of Blacks and VF, the minimum age for employees is fourteen if the
law of the manufacturing country permits. ECRA considers the employment
of anyone under 15 to be child labour. Other than this, the three policies
do meet ECRA’s criteria. The Pentland Group is also a member of the
ETI, meaning they have adopted the ETI base code of conduct and implemented
it in their supply chains. Progress reports on their implementation and
improvements to labour practices are also required, but not published.
According to Martin Hearson, Campaign Coordinator from Labour Behind the
Label “tents and other outdoor gear are often sourced from overseas
subcontractors who use cheap labour. They come especially from the growing
economy of China, where workers are not able to form and join trade unions
of their own choosing. There’s little evidence that the outdoor companies
have taken any steps whatsoever to safeguard the rights of workers producing
them, which is a great shame.”
One exception to the trend of shifting manufacturing to the Far East is
Hilleberg, which specialises in high specification tents and has its own
factory in Sweden which operates under standard EU working conditions. However,
the company does source its components, such as poles, from suppliers for
which it has no code of conduct.
Unlike the influx of ‘cheap’ clothes available on the high street,
the low price of which tends to reflect the treatment of the workers that
manufacture them, tents and camping equipment come at a higher price. Even
the most basic tents cost in the region of forty pounds, and it is not uncommon
to pay £200 or more for a good quality high specification tent. The
cost of fair labour practices could therefore easily be absorbed by the
companies making them without a large drop in profits, and as consumers
are willing to pay these prices it is not inconceivable that they would
be prepared to pay for the costs of fair labour practices through marginal
price increases.
Environmentally Unaware
Despite marketing their products to those who love the great outdoors, none
of the companies have environment reports, with the exception of Vaude which
did respond demonstrating a reasonable understanding of its impacts on the
environment and some targets for improvement. It claims to have “developed
the first 100% recyclable waterproof jacket, produced from a pure polyester
that can easily be fully recycled to produce new clothing.” Denoted
by the ”Ecolog” label on Vaude products, Vaude also gives the
license for the Ecolog label to other clothing manufacturers.
Alternatives
In many ways simply buying second hand is the simplest and most accessible
way of avoiding the uncertain workers’ rights implications of buying
new camping gear. A quick search on Ebay revealed hundreds of second hand
tents, rucksacks and sleeping bags up for sale, many of them high specification
and at much reduced prices. Even better, why not become part of the ‘Freecycle’
network and get your gear for free from someone else who doesn’t want
it any more. Visit www.freecycle.org to find your local group. You’ll
need to sign into the online forum and then you will receive posts from
people offering things they don’t want any more. You can also post
requests for things you want.
Links
- Labour Behind the Label, 38 Exchange St, Norwich NR2 1AX, England,
Tel: 01603 666160, www.labourbehindthelabel.org
- Oeko-Tex Association, Secretariat Öko-Tex Association, Gotthardtstrasse
61, CH-8027 Zurich, Tel: +41 1 20642 35, www.oeko-tex.com
- World Wildlife Fund Chemicals and Health Campaign, www.wwf.org.uk/chemicals
- Freecycle, www.freecycle.org
- Animal Aid, The Old Chapel, Bradford Street, Tonbridge, Kent
TN9 1AW Tel: 01732 364546, www.animalaid.org.uk
References
1 Bad Blood? A Survey of Chemicals in the Blood of European Ministers,
WWF Detox Campaign, October 2004