Mica – is it in your cosmetics? Ask your brand!

What is Mica and what’s the problem?

Mica is the mineral used in makeup to make it sparkle. Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reporters Sarah Whyte and Ben Doherty have found evidence of children as young as 10 skipping school to earn around 83 Australian cents per day collecting and mining mica. This alarming report raises the question: was your makeup made using child labour?

Companies should know about the labor conditions in their supply chain and publicly release this information. Contact the company that makes your cosmetics and ask them to guarantee that child labour is not used in any part of their supply chain. You will let them know that you are not OK with them being ignorant about whether or not children are exploited to mine this mineral.

Read more about Mica and child labour.

ECA recommends consumers who care about this issue should take action

[box]

1)   Choose one of the brands that make the cosmetics you use.

2)   Log into Facebook or Twitter, search for your cosmetics brand’s account and ask them…

Facebook (copy this text): Hi, I love your products and use them regularly, but I also care about child labour in mica mining. I want to know where the mica used in your cosmetics comes from, and whether you can confirm that no children are mining mica in the manufacture of your cosmetics? How do you ensure that child labour is not used in your supply chain? @otterchoices #mica

Twitter (copy and edit this text): @[brand] I use yr makeup + I care about child labour in mica mining. Do you use child labour in yr supply chain? #mica @smart_otter

Add the hashtags so everyone can see what’s happening and share this page with friends to spread the word.

[/box]