Growing

Growing takes work.
In terms of businesses growing ethically it takes putting money into auditing, and other programs that benefit their employees. This takes time and resources, but studies have shown, that healthier, happier employees do better work, take less sick days and need to be replaced less often. So it is everyone's benefit, yes it costs a little more as a consumer, but in the long run you get better gear, and the people who made it can have a better standard of living. Here is a couple of links to how Columbia Sportswear is growing.

The HERproject

Day in the Life of a Auditor

Thanks Columbia for going out of your way to share this, the more this topic is discussed and brought to light, the more will be done about it.

How can we know that our Clothing and Gear are being made ethically? We have to go there and see it. But in reality this isn't an option in most cases. So we have to trust others who can go see. We need to have a group effort of manufacturers, and third parties to ensure that people are not being taken advantage so we can have stuff. Ethical consumer UK is one such third party. They make a user friendly page that breaks down ethics according to your values. I always start with people, then adjust the sliders from there to see where the companies fall, and where they rise. Thank you ethical Consumer for your help, together I hope we can raise the scores of all these companies.
http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/BuyersGuides/Clothing/Waterproofjackets.aspx