China's SHEIN village

A cross posting from my GeographyTeacher 2.0 blog which includes details from my teaching.

China has several towns which are famous for the production of particular items, just as cities in the UK used to be connected with particular industries e.g. textiles in Manchester, hats in Luton etc.

SHEIN is one of the most popular websites for buying low cost (and therefore low quality) items. 

There is a town in China which dedicates a great deal of manufacturing to producing items for this website.

This is a useful video describing the impact this has:

Thanks to Fiona Sheriff for the lead to this particular video.

Perfect for our unit on Fast Fashion with Year 8.

Merry Christmas and thanks for reading...

Taking the traditional Christmas blogging break.

I shall be back early in 2021. This will involve me in developing some remote learning options for a short while at least, because of the requirement to introduce testing into schools - I shall refrain from commenting on that...

Wishing everyone who has read this blog during 2020 a peaceful break, and a slightly improved 2021 over the ups and downs of the one that is ending...

Image: Ronald Lampitt

The story of a Zara Hoody

A site we shall be exploring with Year 8 students in the Lent term...
Exploring the story of an everyday item, the Zara hoody.
Scroll down to reveal the story.

Thanks to Follow the Things for the tipoff to the site. I'm preparing some associated resources, including a Google Form quiz.



In related news, J Williams (@geteach) has been getting active with the new Google Earth Creative tools to produce a new version of the NPR Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt activity.

e-Waste

Third video from Matt Podbury - this is excellent on e-Waste in Agbogbloshie




The Electronic Afterlife from Gizmogul on Vimeo.


Interesting discussions on the relationship between this and the people in Ghana. This film publicises a company that recycles electronic gadgets...

The story of (too much) stuff...

What could you live without?

The Story of a Spoon

Year 8 will be looking at this story - our disposable lifestyles and the impact of plastics in the ocean...

Meet LIAM

LIAM is the robot that Apple has developed to take apart old iPhones so that the components inside them can be recycled - some of them anyway. It's part of Apple's attempts to recycle, which are also going to make them money by reclaiming some valuable components and raw materials too.

Would you buy the t-shirt?

Wimbledon: a global event

Wimbledon Global

Fashion Revolution Day

I have been involved with the work of the Follow the Things project for some time now.

This is a project based at Exeter University, which started with the work of Professor Ian Cook, exploring global supply chains, trade justice and the stories of the things that we own and consume.

One of the associated projects that explores this area is Fashion Revolution Day.

We are approaching the 2nd anniversary  of the Rana Plaza tragedy and a timely pack of materials has been produced to help teachers and students think through its significance and the wider question of 'who made my clothes?' That's the question that FRD is asking this year. Last year there was one pack for everyone. This year they have made packs for primary, secondary, FE and University students/staff.

The education materials can be seen and downloaded at this page.

There are Top Trumps cards to be made as part of the activity, exploring the impact of globalisation.
Ian Cook writes about using the cards here.

We will be making some of these cards in the next few weeks.

Valentine's flowers.... the thorn behind the flower...

As with all the things we consume, we are connected by our purchases to other countries, communities and families.
Last weekend was Valentine's Day, and this Guardian article describes the people who grow them, and how their life is.

A reminder of the KS3 Toolkit 'A Thorny Issue'...

Summer post 2: It's a plastic World

The Geography of our Stuff.... how much of it is made of plastic or packaged in plastic... ?


It's a plastic world - English from It's a plastic world on Vimeo.

Made in Bangladesh...

Year 8 will be familiar with the links between their clothes and the countries where they are made. We looked at the situation where Rosa (from Manila in the Philippines) took Rosa (from the UK)'s job manufacturing clothing, but was then prone to being exploited, with the rise of factories called sweatshops. We also discussed the fact that not all factories in these countries are sweatshops...

We also mentioned the Rana Plaza disaster, just over a year ago, when a factory collapsed in part of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and over a thousand workers were killed. Labels from many UK high street stores were found in the rubble, and implicated in the decision to keep the factories in the building open despite safety concerns.

Although Bangladesh are not going to be playing football in the World Cup finals, they will be 'represented'. The Brazilian team's kit is going to be made in Bangladesh and will also have the words 'Made in Bangladesh' on the bottom of the shirt, as well as on the label.

For more on the issues, check the Follow the Things website and resources, which Mr Parkinson was involved in writing.

How sustainable is your mobile phone ?

Another really useful resource for the Geography of Stuff.
This resource from The Guardian looks at the good news and bad news of mobile phones, and the components that make them up.