I'm an adult woman, and I'm having a very hard time finding environmentally and socially responsible clothes and shoes for myself. Being socially responsible to me means that the employees are not ruled by facism, recieve full health benefits, child care, family leave, are not victims of ageism, classism, sexism, racism, ableism, or homophobia, and earn a reasonable wage to live a decent life. I've been searching the entire web for the last hour and have come up with nothing. The environmental companies do not mention anything about the condition of their workers. Thank you for your time, Peace, Amy

Thanks for your note--and for being a more responsible consumer than I am. I always start out with good intentions and then cave in to commercialism. Your example is inspiring me--and I hope others, too.

To find those companies that are good to support, you shoud check out a new book:

The Feminist Dollar: The Wise Woman's Buying Guide by Phyllis Katz and Margaret Katz; Plenum Trade, New York/London 1997. The book includes a rating system and details about how they rated the companies. They cover a number of industries, including "clothing."

For environmentally and socially responsible companies, you should check out: the EcoMall; the organization Co-op America --and Feminist.com's Women Owned Businesses section.

Good luck and thanks for setting a great example.

—Amy