Everyone has a bunch of things they like to read or look at each day on their phone. Recently I’ve been fascinated by this app called IQAir, which provides information on the air quality where you are and more interestingly, a list of the worst cities in the world’s air quality.
For example today, Dhaka is the worst on earth with a 173 score. Karachi chimes in at number 6 with a 166, Hanoi is eighth with 158 and Lahore is 132 at number 15. Cities you might not expect to be on this list are Berlin, the 18th worst, Brussels, 25, and Rotterdam at 13 with a dangerous 152 rating.
Yesterday Cairo was the worst in the world, today it’s not on the list.
But once again, which is the reason all this interests me, textile locations have terrible scores. People who produce our goods live in dangerous places and, once again, takes me back to “what is the real cost” of anything? Does any consumer care about the health of those that make what they buy? Do you? Do I? And if you do, what do you do about it other than avoid the thought? Practically speaking, what can we do about it?
Do policies in the global north ever consider air quality or resource depletion of supplying nations? I think they should. Is there a big difference between nations allowing abusive treatment of labour or those forcing people to work in air that kills them?
-Andrew Olah
