Beer Steak Bullshit

I will admit with shame that I do own a piece of garment Made in Bangladesh. It was also purchased in one of the East Indian run clothes stores with low quality, albeit very cheap clothes available. It’s a pair of pants I bought there and feel ashamed now that I’ve looked up the info on child labor in Bangladesh. My cheap pants came at a cost. At a cost higher than I’m willing to admit. It’s too late to undo my actions now, but I know I won’t be buying any cheap merchandise that’s Made in Bangladesh as it comes covered with sweat and tears of small children who whose cheap labor was used to produce the item.

According to International Labor Organization, there are 4.9 million working children aged between 5 and 14 years in Bangladesh. That represents 14.2 % of all children in that age group. Illiteracy rate of this age group is 36.4 %. Percentagewise it may not seem that bad, but that’s because total population of Bangladesh is over 155 million. Total numbers of child laborers are shocking. There are millions of children as young as 5 year old that are used as cheap labor in Bangladesh.

These are some shocking facts that prove child labor in Bangladesh is a serious international problem. I don’t think boycotting Made in Bangladesh products will help this situation much, though as poverty is already bad enough there. Some involvement of their government is needed, better child labor laws must be introduced and the policy must be enforced. Education and healthcare must be provided as it’s more difficult to abuse educated population. Or perhaps some companies could step up and allow for independent audits that would grant them with certification that their products are child labor free. I would support Made in Bangladesh merchandise if it came with reliable badge approving the items as child labor free. Support impoverished regions, but battle child labor.

Gallery of shocking pictures of Bangladesh child labor is below:

A group of conservationists from the Wildlife Conservation Society operating on the coast of Bangladesh claims they have discovered 6000 os rare Irrawaddy Dolphins in the area. The same group however warns that these Irrawaddy Dolphins are facing population threat due to excessive fishing nets and climate change.

Irrawaddy Dolphins are mammals closest to other marine mammals, in particular killer whales or orcas. They were discovered in freshwater regions of South Asia, within the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest in Bangladesh and Bay of Bengal the waters of which are adjacent to Sundarbans. Up to this point, there has been very little research on marine mammals done in the area. Prior to this discovery, the largest known population of Irrawaddy Dolphins has only had a couple hundred members.

Irrawaddy Dolphins were listed on the IUCN Red List as vulnerable species, in particular since it was not known how many of them still remain on the planet. Thriving population of Irrawaddy Dolphins in Bangladesh gives us hope that there is future for these mammal and that they will be preserved in their natural habitat. Despite this discovery, however, Irrawaddy Dolphins remain threatened by fishing nets where they often get entangled by accident and drown. Declining fresh water supplies pose even bigger threat to Irrawaddy Dolphins. India has been diverging upstream water and sea level has been rising due to global warming, both of which contribute to devastating effect on the population of rare Irrawaddy Dolphins.

These circumstances however threaten more dolphin species than just Irrawaddys. Ganges River Dolphins are as endangered as Irrawaddy Dolphins in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. Freshwater dolphins are very vulnerable to extinction via humans impacts. Baiji or Yangtze River Dolphins are a reminder that unless humans live in harmony with wildlife, we will lose some of the most beautiful creatures that are on this planet.

Check out the video with Irrawaddy Dolphins below: