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It seems very wasteful to destroy the garments. An alternative would be to sell the clothes normally and distribute the money to the children and their families in some way. Then close the door on using child labour.

The should go to a big celebrity charity auction. Madonna and her ilk would pay well above the market rate just to be seen as being compassionate

Thanks for the comments. Gap have replied to emails I sent saying they will be destroying the garments. In their email they say, "As for the concern you raised involving how we are handling the merchandise, we do not believe it would be appropriate to sell or donate product involving child labor. We will continue to work with a variety of groups including government, non-governmental organizations and trade unions in an effort to end the use of child labor." This in my opinion is not good enough. It actually ensures they are doing something else that is morally reprehensible - ie destroying clothes in this throw away world when there are huge amounts of children starving or cold. And lastly - surely if they were working with trade unions, the trade unions in the factories they are sourcing from would have known about the child labor? Perhaps they need to insist on the unionising of their vendors. If you would like the full text of this email, please contact me at theteacher@elmacdezi gn.co.uk

There must be a monumental GAP in somebody's heid. Protesters have been reminding GAP shoaps GAP this for years. Where was the meejah then?

Received this regarding my concerns about the donation of clothing (my reply is below): Thank you for your reply. We appreciate you sharing your continued concerns. Unfortunately, we are unable to address the inquiries in your message via email as this is proprietary information, but we invite you to visit our corporate Web site for additional information on our Code of Vendor Conduct, which can be found through the following link: http://www.gapinc.co m/public/SocialRespo nsibility/socialres. shtml Thank you again for writing. Sincerely, Maureen Coyan Gap Inc. Thank-you again. I have read your website, and do not see the answers to my questions. Are you saying that the appropriateness of donating the clothing to a children's charity is proprietary, or if you stipulate to vendors that they must be fully unionised? To reiterate. 1 Why is it inappropriate to donate the clothes? 2 If you are working with the unions to eradicate these practises, are you stipulating to vendors they must be fully unionised? If the communication medium is inappropriate, perhaps you could answer my questions to my home address? Neil Scott 52 Whitehurst Bearsden Glasgow

The thought that the clothes made by the children are to be destroyed is abhorent. If Gap are to continue to use 'cheap labour' to guarantee their vast profits, the least they can do is to help with the local community. The clothes should be sold in store, but with point of sale telling buyers that ALL money received for the items will go to funding schools in the local area to the factories. Gap has enough employees to supposedly check on their factories, which obviously is ineffectual, why don't they employ people to set up and run schools instead - they are such a powerful company, why can't they use their power in a positive way instead of to just make disgusting sums of money.

Typical corporate obfuscation to Niel Scott. They just don't like the question, and don't want to answer. Here's an idea, just don't EVER buy stuff from GAP. They produce rubbish anyway. Shop at second hand clothing stores, make your own stuff, and generally buy less stuff. And make sure you join a union, wherever you work.