This documentary should shown in schools and colleges To educate the youngsters on wastage It’s time for all to take responsibility and protect the environment
Obviously the charities within these countries have found a way to dump their rubbish without having to pay a disposal fee but rather they are receiving money for garbage. Absolutely shameful to take advantage of those who are only trying to survive!
I truly enjoy these documentaries because they make me take a look at myself. I thrift a lot more these days to get clothes at bargain prices but that can become troublesome too. I still have thrifted clothes here, not worn yet with the tags still on but I still like supporting that sustainable organisation. 😫
I have fast fashion, but I’ve literally pick the best pieces so I’ve had them for 10 plus years. You can dry clean, spot clean, steam, and keep them well organized to maximize your price per purchase🙏🏼
you need to look into martialism and unlearning it because that seems to be your problem in shopping from reading your comment. the need to want more than you actually need, same with buying new clothes every new season, or buying a new outfit before every event. no hate just something i struggled with too and still do because consumption and martialism is bashed into us from the start and keeps going with trends, advertising and fomo, ect.
@@namjoonie936 Me? 🥴. I love thrifting to be honest. Only 2 seasons where I live: dry and wet so there's no shopping for 4 seasons. Ads here are very few plus in those places, the clothing is pricey. I guess FB marketplace could be taken into consideration. I do 6 no spend months yearly because I did realise how much was piling up and not being worn then given away.
Being a GHANAIAN, I think all is not lost especially seeing people like Yayra & Kwabena thriving to revive these clothes. Its unfortunate there are not more of them.
Africa is being used as dumping ground for car wreckage, house hold appliances, industrials machineries, tech gadgets, you name it and you will find it in Africa.
where's that hellish place where they import tons and tons of electronic waste and then burnit to retrieve scrap metal? either ghana or nigeria, I think
I'm a South African, I've seen more and more people around Cape Town and JHB selling these clothes. Something I've learned from my grandmother is to use old clothes, cotton and jeans especially for make blankets, hand bags, mats etc. I thin textile companies can look into that to reduce this waste.
Totally agree. India does that, and they export their products. So they are quite clever about how they handle this in that they get this trash from the West and sell it back to them (and the rest of the world) as treasure! I bought some bathroom mats from Pep that were made in India, from recycled material.
I sell my paintings for a living and the paper i buy is made from 100% recycled cotton from fast fashion waste in India. It is great paper and if anyone who reads this also paints on cotton paper, pls look into this material. It is better than the cheap synethic and more affordable than the 100% cotton quality brands such as Fabriano or Arches, that doesn't use recycled cotton
@Alex Korova great! I hope you like it! Some recycled paper is better than others. Remember to read the comments. There is one selling on Amazon in a leather book (it is a watercolor journal with all recycled paper) and that paper quality is too poor to use.
I honestly did not know. It is rare that I'm surprised and informed so thoroughly by these documentaries. I only donate clothes in good condition but never thought about what happens beyond that.
The donated cloths suppose to be free for people but instead they have turned it into a business. There are crooks in every part of the world and that have turn this charity for their personal gain.
Video title "the hidden engineering of landfills". The process of safely sealing off the landfills is non existant within the environment of the end user in most cases Africa!
I know that charity shops here in the UK are selling huge bags of their unwanted items for 30p each to waste companies, in the belief that these often spoiled items are going to be made into rag rugs etc., then these companies are selling them on for £100!
Similar scenario here,charity shops don't even process, they use third parties to process, anywhere there's goodwilled public, business vultures exploit the gap
People who resell things at least stop some of this waste. They get a bad name because they buy low and sell high, yet goodwill and other thrift stores trash so much.
@@quotidian5077 true. Also many a times, clothes are donated in decent condition but at least in the goodwill outlets, they tend to get dirty by people touching them and tossing them around. It is best to buy them and sell them. Not sure of the small community thrift stores.
Honestly, even then that's too much. I just donated a gigantic bag of clothes which I try to do once a year and there were so many things in my closet I kept saying "I'll get to wearing this" and haven't so I got rid of them. If people can afford to buy quality items they'll be less likely to need to replace their clothes and shoes. But then again, some people don't care and think they're not making an impact as one person sadly.
10 clothing items per year? bruh, why do you need so much lol. A wise idea would be to buy clothings that are made from plants. that way the microplasic problem would be not that bad.
I know you don't mean anything bad, but your comment kind of put things into perspective. For some people 10 new clothing items per year is a lot, but for you (and maybe other people) that's a reduced amount. Personally I only buy clothes/shoes when the ones I have are already showing wear and tear signs or don't fit me anymore. There's no buying new clothes just because I like the newer models if the ones I have at home are still perfectly fine.
@@damedesuka77 100% Agree with you - I haven’t bought anything, shoes or clothes, since October 2020. I was suggesting that number because I think some people have the habit of buying something new most weeks?
I have fast fashion, but I’ve literally pick the best pieces so I’ve had them for 10 plus years. You can dry clean, spot clean, steam, and keep them well organized to maximize your price per purchase🙏🏼
In fairness, I got some plain cotton T shirts from Primark 14 years ago and they're still going strong. Some of their stuff isn't bad quality at all. When they get too discoloured, I relegate them to use as base layers.
Could Ghana refuse the waste like China did with the West's recycling waste unless they first sort them? Then the West would be forced to come up with a solution instead of pushing off their problems to struggling people.
If the west would stop stealing business ideas from an indigenous princess targeted by the most elite scumbags that run these companies and are primary shareholders, a lot of this karmic destruction of the elites' supporters wouldn't happen 😒🕵🏻♂️
Its so easy to blame the west when in fact Ghana (particularly the government) needs to take more responsibility. If these imports are causing so much problems, find better solutions that will be beneficial for Ghana and its people. Shoutout to the fashion designers who upcycled some of the clothes. That bag looks dope!!
It would be hard to do in a country with so much corruption and all of that is due to the fact that gold has been found there and gold mining companies don't want strong govt they want weak one coz then it is easier to exploit
I now rarely buy any fast fashion items. I am now in my fifties so fashion is not as important to me as when I was in my twenties and thirties. I try to go for good quality natural fabrics as much as possible and classic, timeless pieces. I also look for classic, high end stuff on eBay maybe worn once by someone and bought for the fraction of the original price. I do look after my clothes, washing items regularly, carefully and storing them neatly all helps to increase the length of wear in the garment.
i can say i'm very glad i switched to classic quality menswear clothing items from natural fibers alot made in europe like scottish lambswool or harris tweed it also has caused me to do more research on the production and where its made before i buy my items yes its a lot more expensive but its all about the cost per wear i can maybe keep those clothing pieces a lifetime instead of throwing it away after a month!
I'm pretty rough on my clothes, and even then the high quality stuff lasts me a decade at least. I remember my friends' A&F clothing ripping on a weekly basis and wondering why anyone would ever buy such _garbage_
Giving second hand clothing to poor countries in Africa is counter productive in terms of economic development. African nations should be encouraging garment manufacturing which will be their ticket to economic prosperity, just as it was for the rest of the industrialised world.
I thought the whole idea was people were donating clothes to be given away, not snapped up by greedy importers and sold on. Charity really is the dirtiest business around. There's more honor in being a drug dealer, or prostitutes, at least those people are generally straight up about what they are doing.
Simon I have read articles before about companies making profits behind the name of a charity. I think the registered charity first sells the donated stuff to a buyer that then ships it out to third world countries for it to be sold in markets like seem in the film. It is horrible to know you donate something from kindness of your heart for it to be involved in a murky business like this to make profits for the middlemen who are exporting it. Very depressing but informative programme.
It's easy to blame the west, but the demand is coming from Africa. If it weren't economical to buy the used clothes, electronics etc, then Africa wouldn't import this stuff. But it is economical...it gives jobs to a lot of people and is vital to the African economy. When I was a kid( born behind the iron curtain ), we went through a similar phase. All my clothes were bought second-hand. Buying new clothes simply wasn't an option. Our family income was around 250$ at the time, so...the "trash" from the west was a necessary jumping step...an opportunity. We had the same kinds of used clothes salesmen, who bought large bags of clothes via auctions and had "fist" pick, then second pick etc. My mother turned many unsalvagable clothes into woven rag carpets, construction overalls and just cleaning rags/mops. Now, my family income is around 3000$ and I could buy a full set of new clothes each month, but I don't. At best, I buy 1 new pair of something once a year.(ignoring things like socks). This "fast fashion" thing never made sense to me. I don't buy new clothes until I've worn out/broken my current ones.
What kind of ignorant statement is this? Africans already recycle everything, even creating sculptures out of Kalashnikov‘s - Neither Africans nor Asians need „dead white people‘s“ clothes … African cotton is top quality, hemp, raffia - but this has brought African textile manufacturing down & prevents autonomous industrial production -
They can but it still will not solve the problem coz so much clothes are produced and dumped. India has its own problem with plastic waste. Partly because Western Europe and USA dumps there part is general lack of education and infrastructure needed to proper waste management. And I don't mean anything complex. I mean separating bio waste from rest of trash. Govt is doing some progress like building inscinerators with good filters but since there is problem with sorting trash it breaks down often
That denim jumpsuit uniform is amazing 😍 them lads are doing an amazing job and are having a huge impact in Ghana i hope others are inspired to start up cycling since it seems like fast fashion is going nowhere anytime soon
@@WrongThink_ Well first off cotton is not near as durable or versatile as hemp. Second, it has a kind of slavery undertone to it and third, it is actually detrimental to the environment to grow, tend and manufacture when compared with hemp, which is totally global warning proof. There ya go
I think a point this story missed is that we in UK/USA etc are donating our clothing, meaning we expect it will be given to the needy instead of sold. I think many people would be surprised to find their "worthless" used clothes are being sold.
The ideal thing for the people selling clothes in the market it's to do something like the last guys,transform and give a new lease of life to the clothes if you have sewing skills.For example,if one side of a shirt it's ripped or dirty you can reuse the other side to make a pouch or money bag.This way the waste will be reduced and they will put different products in the market.Very sad that the place has become a dumping ground.
I wonder if they could sell the scraps of clothing for quilt making? I am so sorry for their great losses and the massive waste they have to deal with! 😩😥
@@beckypetersen2680 I understand that most quilters prefer cotton (I'm a quilter too), but this is Africa we're talking about. They're not so particular, especially when it comes to blankets to keep a person warm at night.
@@godschildyes I get it. But if we are using scraps of fabric, using scraps of cotton is wonderful - there are lots of them. I've made literally a couple hundred quilts from second-hand fabrics including shirts, sheets, duvet covers, curtains. I try to use all cotton, but sometimes use a mix of cotton/poly, cotton/linen, etc. I try to avoid all poly as it can't be ironed as easily as the rest - but if I were a wonderful print, I might use it anyway. Just have to be careful with the ironing.
It's not about me - but when you said to sell the scraps of clothing for quilt making, I only suggested that most quilters actually want to use a more natural fabric if they can. Certainly didn't meant to make you upset about something. Have a great day - I was trying to contribute to the conversation. I'll bow out now.
Yes fast fashion is absolutely too blame but isn't there some blame of the Ghanaian people for just dumping clothes into the sewers? Why hasn't the Ghanaian government developed a collection plan? Why don't the people care about their ecosystem? It doesn't matter what happens with the clothes coming in if they don't fix the problem they already have. The Ghanaian people have to decide they care about their coast lines and stop putting clothes in the sewers.
Dude... You know what kind of caliber most people from Africa are right? These guys are about as educated on basic f#)_(&king civil infrastructure and sanitation as a drunk toddler with a bottle of jungle juice cocktail from tipsy bartender. Also the gub'ment there is so corrupt, it makes the US gub'ment look like a saint.
Money. You need to have money to enforce such regulations across the board. People need to be paid in order to collect waste that others have dumped and more policing agents would need to be hired to keep people from dumping in the first place. There was a time when it was seen as less of an issue to litter in the US and places were full of trash. But then things like the EPA was created in the 70s, with which many people were hired to clean up and enforce anti-dumping and anti-littering policy. Ghana isn't nearly as wealthy.
The problem with "collection plans" is that countries like Ghana or patches of waste like the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch are the solutions for first world governments. When your country says to use recycle bins provided by the city, those recycle bins are collected by people who will sell it to Ghane. The documentary literally explains that to show how these merchants get their clothes. Unfortunately for the Ghanian people, they have been made the last in the pecking order of waste collection, so there is no country that will by their waste from them. Because of overproduction from brands and fast fashion, the amount of trash that people produce is no longer small enough for people to sell back and continue using and no longer usable by those people either. That is why the documentary puts the blame on fast fashion, because fashion companies would rather make more cheap clothes to make more money rather than make quality clothes that last years.
Excellent reporting. I’m in USA m. My eyes are opened. I’m thinking what part do I play and how do I reduce my consumption of clothing. Im learning to appreciate what I already have.
The clothing is also very toxic for the environment not just the waste but the toxins they are made with as there are very few clothes made from organic materials and cotton. Now imagine burning it all that toxicity in the atmosphere and probably worse when burnt
How can you blame 'The West' for this, people think they are donating to charity, to homeless people for example. Ghana's government allows the mass importing of this stuff, at the expense of domestic production and industry, but it's easier to just blame 'The West'.
Maybe this is a really dumb idea for reasons I don't understand, but couldn't they take to burying all the non synthetic clothing deep underground in the desert so it'll both biodegrade and hold extra water in the ground soil? In theory it would both eliminate waste and improve land conditions no?
Think about how the soil is layered. Ever try to dig a hole there? Desert soil is hard and dry, too packed down to easily penetrate. Even non-synthetic clothing won't biodegrade quickly. The entire process becomes more complex when clothes are made from a mix of synthetic and non-synthetic fibers. Just like drinking containers made from both plastic and paper, they don't degrade fast enough and are too costly to recycle. Don't worry about the groundwater table underneath the desert. The depletion of water there is a result of more point (such as wells and springs) and non-point sources (climate and vegetation). To answer your question, yes, the idea could "eliminate" waste, but only from the eyes. Our trash would remain. Secondly, no, land conditions would never improve by simply using another biome as a dumping ground. Doing so just means we're copying and pasting the problem somewhere else, sadly hoping we've alleviated the damage being done to a place like Ghana. What's crucial is to focus on sustainability - a concept stressing intergenerational equity for the people, environment, and overall economy. Here's what it takes: 1) Fashion companies have to reduce the amount of resources being used to manufacture clothes. 2) Those synthetic fibers we've developed need to be regulated. 3) Whatever "waste" the companies are making should be held accountable and pay a fee/fines for doing so. 4) People purchasing from these companies should be informed about the amount of pollution being created. 5) Governments of developing countries need to limit the importation of clothing waste. 6) The connection behind receiving higher education and a higher standard of living must be re-focused. 7) The hardest part: Gathering a team of like-minded politicians, environmentalists, and engineers to build efficient infrastructure to manage the waste problem. 8) From there on out, everybody has to begin viewing the problems and solutions long-term, not short-term. Remember, the world doesn't only revolve around money, but kindness as well.
@@countryantiques45 that's all well and good, but more than just preventative measures will be needed to fix the problem. We're going to have to find something to do with the current waste at the end of the day. Any ideas?
I never knew this is where second hand clothing ends up. Now that I know I’ll be more careful of what I donate so it’s better quality for them if they eventually get something of mine.
Going on eight billion people in the world, still there is too much clothes. This is what we have destroyed and polluted our environment for, the rich get richer, the poor suffers, the land suffers, for what? There was a time my granddad told me, that the same suit a man got married in, he was buried in it, as well just saying
They don’t want you to film because these are donations which they got for free in the UK but are now selling. Research the secondhand clothing market which is now a billion dollar market.
just an fyi for anyone who cares, armpit / sweat stains don't actually mean your clothing item is trash. you can totally remove that shit with special cleaners and have your item like new again.
I donate textiles for recycling. I wash them before doing so and I mark on the bag it's all rags basically. I hate the idea it could end up polluting someone's beach when my intention is for it to be recycled (they use shredded rags for other things)
Firstly, sexy reporter, but on topic, this is why I don't buy cheap clothes and many of fast fashion consumers are women who can't be seen wearing the same outfit 🤦♂
For me the problem is not the bussiness and the way they feed there families. But...the exploitation from manufacturer ..to the importers. The quality from the beginning up to that time was degrading...and called as trash already. I buy used clothing but i make sure it is 100% cotton. Because....cotton will goes back to nature despite of requiring lots of water rather than polyester or nylon that it takes longest time or will never be decomposed. When i went to this kind of store....jackpot if i can find 1 or 2....which i can say original by brand and not from a fast fashion. Barely once in every quarter. What i have noticed are mountanous clothes with a very poor quality..
in the philippines we called ukay - ukay which means dig and dig i also buy clothing there i just revice it well to choose the good ones it’s better than the cheap ones that come from china
Come on guys those are charity clothes and they are supposed to be handed out for free......they are not a commodity to be sold for profits by unscrupulous traders. When I buy a bag of wiping cloths for the garage I dont set fire to them in the street when ive wiped my hands on them !!!!!!!
I saw they did it to Kenya. We make our clothes export them then turn around and import garbage. It’s about time we consume ours and not agree to the fast fashion trend.
It's more about trying to deal with insecurity while being brainwashed by fast fashion brands like Nike or Adidas into buying their stuff eventhough these brands have no morality.
You don't have such guarantee as lot of UK sends its trash to 3rd world countries. Like what? Did you really think that all fast fashion trash would fit in UK landfills? Your country is a small island. Even USA sends it to poor countries. Sending to a charity at least gives a chance of it going to a person in need. And don't use plastic clothes coz plastic never biodegrades and therefore microplastics can now be found in pretty much everything. Mostly in fish
So those donation clothing bins are being taken and sold instead of being given to women and children that have no clothes on their backs. I suspected this already ...but not at this level. Disgusting.
On the middle class housing estates i live on uk i get a charity bag through door every month or more. As a long term charity shop user through necessity I've seen the quality and availability of clothing drop dramatically these last 2 covid years. What a mess everything is.
What about accepting only what is acceptable? -Meaning coming from the ships or trade point. Those selling the big baggage of clothing check it before they give it to their buyers. Packing what is acceptable in the bags to sellers, and from there they can buy and pick through what they want to sell in the markets. Also if the clothing waste ends up anywhere other than the actual landfill then they should fine (or tax) the clothing market. That will insure that they only throw it away where it needs to be thrown. And finally if the government is allowing the shipment of these clothing then the government should be finding the solution for the waste that comes with it. And how to compost it better.
Why is the waste not used for patchworking, blanket, bag, jewellery making, upcycling, furniture covering, crafting, cleaning cloth/duster making etc ?
One good solution is to place a temporary ban on these imported items to reduce the amount of waste currently in the country. There is enough clothing available to sustain the market until the environmental pollution is reduced to a considerable level. Quality control should be put in place to avoid any more pollution, or importers could face fines for less quality importation.
Because the evangelical Christian missionary insurgency got a better foothold there first, lol. But you do know Islam in Africa started spreading in the 7th century, right? This isn't new. So, I don't know why you'd refer to it as an insurgency in 2022. Honestly, it's simply because Ghana is in West Africa, which firstly, it took Islam longer to reach being that it entered by land through Egypt. Ghana was stumbled upon by European Christian explorers. They met the Ashanti people. The Ashanti were welcoming and it just so happened that elements of their native religion, Akan, bore a number of odd similarities to Christianity-including a cross being an important symbol to them. They basically took the info about Christianity as kinda like new information. The majority of the African continent is Christian though, regardless (51% Christian vs. 40% Muslim).
@@Meladjusted You must realise the difference between missionary preaching & insurgencies by IS, Boko Haram etc. What's happening in many W African countries certainly qualify as insurgency.
I think we in the West have to create some sort of selection mechanism so that the clothes that are really worn out won't be exported. This way, at least every pound the seller invests will have a positive return on investment. We also need to educate our own populations to only dispose to these charities of clothes that are slightly wearable. Since it's donated, the cost for them is 0
There's a potential job for you a gold mine in that large landfill of clothes nobody wants textile recycling industry and they paid you to do it for them, you would probably need to invest into shredder and assembly line plus other stuff to start businesses (like decarbonizer and way to spin fine shredded textile into threads to finall product ) but look it that way it's definitely secure job nobody is doing.
Why don't the country of origin (for the clothes,) as or the buyer's of the bundles wash the clothes? This just seems like such a waste that either side could fix by simply giving the garments a good washing and some good quality washing liquids.
It’s a shame how much waste from the West ends up in Ghana. I ended up here after watching Reggie Yates spend a week with the burner boys at the E-Waste site
Purchasing good used clothes, and purchasing unknown bundles that are filled with trash, are two seperate things. Somewhere along the line, the system changed, and it went from selling quality items that could be resold, to foisting garbage onto desperate people, sight unseen. I think YOU should go live there (with no money) and see how well YOU fare. How dare you further victimize people who have already been victimized by a corrupt system for years. They did not CHOOSE this. It was chosen for them.
If these places weren't so corrupt they could have the infrastructure to deal with waste. A massive incinerator could potentially produce tons of power with all the waste. Have trucks pick it up and burn it in an environmentally friendly way. You can see there IS money there by the major city in the background during the beach scene so why don't they do something about it? Oh yeah, they don't HAVE to.
being from the uk were told that our clothes w donate go to people who need them and havnt got any having watched this episode i was horrified to learn that what i thought wa going to needy people is actually being sold on for profit .. so i blame their government for this issue another african government allowing their country to be used as a dumping ground for profit then complaining that our clothes are not good enuff to make money from . they cant have it both ways im afraid ....
is it cheaper in the end, to buy 5 hot pieces from Amazon instead of a monthly bundle 75% trashed? is creation / couture the way that never lets you down?
🤔 Maybe it's time consumers demand manufacturers to recycle their products or pay extreme tariffs for overproduction that causes waste. It's harsh but waste is harmful for the Earth & shouldn't be neglected by gov'ts.
This documentary should shown in schools and colleges
To educate the youngsters on wastage
It’s time for all to take responsibility and protect the environment
Obviously the charities within these countries have found a way to dump their rubbish without having to pay a disposal fee but rather they are receiving money for garbage. Absolutely shameful to take advantage of those who are only trying to survive!
The second hand charities sell that donated crap by wait .. absolutely everyone is guilty. Disgusting!
These donations are from the USA and other places, Ghana was told if they don’t accept them they will face heavy fines since ch as imposed taxes etc!
I truly enjoy these documentaries because they make me take a look at myself. I thrift a lot more these days to get clothes at bargain prices but that can become troublesome too. I still have thrifted clothes here, not worn yet with the tags still on but I still like supporting that sustainable organisation. 😫
I think that only becomes troublesome if the clothes go unworn. I'm sure you will eventually donate or sell them to someone that will use them.
I have fast fashion, but I’ve literally pick the best pieces so I’ve had them for 10 plus years. You can dry clean, spot clean, steam, and keep them well organized to maximize your price per purchase🙏🏼
you need to look into martialism and unlearning it because that seems to be your problem in shopping from reading your comment. the need to want more than you actually need, same with buying new clothes every new season, or buying a new outfit before every event.
no hate just something i struggled with too and still do because consumption and martialism is bashed into us from the start and keeps going with trends, advertising and fomo, ect.
@@namjoonie936 Me? 🥴. I love thrifting to be honest. Only 2 seasons where I live: dry and wet so there's no shopping for 4 seasons. Ads here are very few plus in those places, the clothing is pricey. I guess FB marketplace could be taken into consideration. I do 6 no spend months yearly because I did realise how much was piling up and not being worn then given away.
Being a GHANAIAN, I think all is not lost especially seeing people like Yayra & Kwabena thriving to revive these clothes. Its unfortunate there are not more of them.
ghana doesn't need hordes of people repurposing trash, ghana needs its government to get off its ass and build trash-fired power plants!
It’s a loss.
I agree.
Africa is being used as dumping ground for car wreckage, house hold appliances, industrials machineries, tech gadgets, you name it and you will find it in Africa.
Africa's the world's biggest salvage center.
They are buting and importing it. Other countries cant make them want or take the items. They allow a market to exist, the cause is poor regulation.
People ship trash there or things that can be recycled.
🇵🇭 too 😭 We were colonized by Spain, US and Japan.. those countries are rich now and we were left to become their modern slaves.
where's that hellish place where they import tons and tons of electronic waste and then burnit to retrieve scrap metal? either ghana or nigeria, I think
I'm a South African, I've seen more and more people around Cape Town and JHB selling these clothes. Something I've learned from my grandmother is to use old clothes, cotton and jeans especially for make blankets, hand bags, mats etc. I thin textile companies can look into that to reduce this waste.
Totally agree. India does that, and they export their products. So they are quite clever about how they handle this in that they get this trash from the West and sell it back to them (and the rest of the world) as treasure! I bought some bathroom mats from Pep that were made in India, from recycled material.
The animal shelters desperately need dog beds. Use used clothing to make dog beds and donate to them
I sell my paintings for a living and the paper i buy is made from 100% recycled cotton from fast fashion waste in India. It is great paper and if anyone who reads this also paints on cotton paper, pls look into this material. It is better than the cheap synethic and more affordable than the 100% cotton quality brands such as Fabriano or Arches, that doesn't use recycled cotton
@Alex Korova great! I hope you like it! Some recycled paper is better than others. Remember to read the comments. There is one selling on Amazon in a leather book (it is a watercolor journal with all recycled paper) and that paper quality is too poor to use.
I love this!!!
I honestly did not know. It is rare that I'm surprised and informed so thoroughly by these documentaries. I only donate clothes in good condition but never thought about what happens beyond that.
The donated cloths suppose to be free for people but instead they have turned it into a business. There are crooks in every part of the world and that have turn this charity for their personal gain.
@@sdel628 everyone will give an account, the thief and the end user alike!
Video title "the hidden engineering of landfills". The process of safely sealing off the landfills is non existant within the environment of the end user in most cases Africa!
My favorite documentary channel. Truly showing the unreported world we live in!
Ghana, Senegal and other countries should follow Rwanda, Tanzania & Uganda and prohibit the imports
True. It makes local businesses suffer.
Unreported World is a meaningful channel. Thank you for your great efforts.
I know that charity shops here in the UK are selling huge bags of their unwanted items for 30p each to waste companies, in the belief that these often spoiled items are going to be made into rag rugs etc., then these companies are selling them on for £100!
Similar scenario here,charity shops don't even process, they use third parties to process, anywhere there's goodwilled public, business vultures exploit the gap
I never gonna give anything anymore to charities. will stop buying unneeded clothing ...this is disgusting
People who resell things at least stop some of this waste. They get a bad name because they buy low and sell high, yet goodwill and other thrift stores trash so much.
Same here, I have enough clothing for the next 10 years.
@@quotidian5077 true. Also many a times, clothes are donated in decent condition but at least in the goodwill outlets, they tend to get dirty by people touching them and tossing them around. It is best to buy them and sell them. Not sure of the small community thrift stores.
" Habitat for humanity builds homes in the LOCAL area ... i give to them instead of goodwill
They need to create a factory that can used to cut clean treat the fabric and use it for installation.
insulation?
They do that in Bulgaria but they're getting too many clothes now and lotslip through the net and are bought by poorer folk to heat their home.
@@ionia2376Yup. Same in Ukraine.
Maybe we need to ration ourselves to 9 or 10 items of new clothing per year and 1 or 2 pairs of shoes.
Honestly, even then that's too much. I just donated a gigantic bag of clothes which I try to do once a year and there were so many things in my closet I kept saying "I'll get to wearing this" and haven't so I got rid of them. If people can afford to buy quality items they'll be less likely to need to replace their clothes and shoes. But then again, some people don't care and think they're not making an impact as one person sadly.
10 clothing items per year? bruh, why do you need so much lol.
A wise idea would be to buy clothings that are made from plants. that way the microplasic problem would be not that bad.
Fashion police?
I know you don't mean anything bad, but your comment kind of put things into perspective.
For some people 10 new clothing items per year is a lot, but for you (and maybe other people) that's a reduced amount.
Personally I only buy clothes/shoes when the ones I have are already showing wear and tear signs or don't fit me anymore. There's no buying new clothes just because I like the newer models if the ones I have at home are still perfectly fine.
@@damedesuka77 100% Agree with you - I haven’t bought anything, shoes or clothes, since October 2020. I was suggesting that number because I think some people have the habit of buying something new most weeks?
I have fast fashion, but I’ve literally pick the best pieces so I’ve had them for 10 plus years. You can dry clean, spot clean, steam, and keep them well organized to maximize your price per purchase🙏🏼
In fairness, I got some plain cotton T shirts from Primark 14 years ago and they're still going strong. Some of their stuff isn't bad quality at all. When they get too discoloured, I relegate them to use as base layers.
yeh
The reporter is simply fantastic 😍
Could Ghana refuse the waste like China did with the West's recycling waste unless they first sort them? Then the West would be forced to come up with a solution instead of pushing off their problems to struggling people.
We should do that.
The problem is Africa is full of corrupt politicians. I bet their ancestors are the same people that sell other Africans to the Europeans.
Why look at China? 3 East African states have already done so effortlessly
@@masehoart7569 why not?china is doing many things right
If the west would stop stealing business ideas from an indigenous princess targeted by the most elite scumbags that run these companies and are primary shareholders, a lot of this karmic destruction of the elites' supporters wouldn't happen 😒🕵🏻♂️
I bet if Americans and Britians had to deal with our own waste and trash we'd be better about sustainability and conscious shopping!
Its so easy to blame the west when in fact Ghana (particularly the government) needs to take more responsibility. If these imports are causing so much problems, find better solutions that will be beneficial for Ghana and its people. Shoutout to the fashion designers who upcycled some of the clothes. That bag looks dope!!
It would be hard to do in a country with so much corruption and all of that is due to the fact that gold has been found there and gold mining companies don't want strong govt they want weak one coz then it is easier to exploit
Bringing winter clothes to Ghana?
Now that's just not right. Who needs them there? That's guaranteed trash!
You do know it gets cold at night right?
Exactly what I was thinking when he kept saying jackets
Not trash at all for travelers going out of the country. Imagine coming from Africa without winter clothes during winter season
Not all jackets are winter jackets….
@@larabachamelionI think the demographics that afford international travel and the demographic that buys secondhand clothing doesn’t overlap much
I now rarely buy any fast fashion items. I am now in my fifties so fashion is not as important to me as when I was in my twenties and thirties. I try to go for good quality natural fabrics as much as possible and classic, timeless pieces. I also look for classic, high end stuff on eBay maybe worn once by someone and bought for the fraction of the original price. I do look after my clothes, washing items regularly, carefully and storing them neatly all helps to increase the length of wear in the garment.
i can say i'm very glad i switched to classic quality menswear clothing items from natural fibers alot made in europe like scottish lambswool or harris tweed it also has caused me to do more research on the production and where its made before i buy my items yes its a lot more expensive but its all about the cost per wear i can maybe keep those clothing pieces a lifetime instead of throwing it away after a month!
I'm pretty rough on my clothes, and even then the high quality stuff lasts me a decade at least. I remember my friends' A&F clothing ripping on a weekly basis and wondering why anyone would ever buy such _garbage_
Giving second hand clothing to poor countries in Africa is counter productive in terms of economic development. African nations should be encouraging garment manufacturing which will be their ticket to economic prosperity, just as it was for the rest of the industrialised world.
I thought the whole idea was people were donating clothes to be given away, not snapped up by greedy importers and sold on. Charity really is the dirtiest business around. There's more honor in being a drug dealer, or prostitutes, at least those people are generally straight up about what they are doing.
Simon I have read articles before about companies making profits behind the name of a charity. I think the registered charity first sells the donated stuff to a buyer that then ships it out to third world countries for it to be sold in markets like seem in the film. It is horrible to know you donate something from kindness of your heart for it to be involved in a murky business like this to make profits for the middlemen who are exporting it. Very depressing but informative programme.
One of the worst is Goodwill. Read up on them. Not what anyone in their right mind would call a charity.
💯
I call it the detergent of money laundering 😒
And look at the main people involved in "charitable organizations" 😒🕵🏻♂️
It's easy to blame the west, but the demand is coming from Africa. If it weren't economical to buy the used clothes, electronics etc, then Africa wouldn't import this stuff. But it is economical...it gives jobs to a lot of people and is vital to the African economy. When I was a kid( born behind the iron curtain ), we went through a similar phase. All my clothes were bought second-hand. Buying new clothes simply wasn't an option. Our family income was around 250$ at the time, so...the "trash" from the west was a necessary jumping step...an opportunity. We had the same kinds of used clothes salesmen, who bought large bags of clothes via auctions and had "fist" pick, then second pick etc. My mother turned many unsalvagable clothes into woven rag carpets, construction overalls and just cleaning rags/mops. Now, my family income is around 3000$ and I could buy a full set of new clothes each month, but I don't. At best, I buy 1 new pair of something once a year.(ignoring things like socks). This "fast fashion" thing never made sense to me. I don't buy new clothes until I've worn out/broken my current ones.
Still if you bought 100% cotton stuff it wouldn't tear so fast
At the same time it’s our responsibility to clean our environments and stop dumping everywhere everyone.
In India they recycle these clothes to beautiful blankets. If Africa can do the same the problem will be halved
What kind of ignorant statement is this? Africans already recycle everything, even creating sculptures out of Kalashnikov‘s - Neither Africans nor Asians need „dead white people‘s“ clothes … African cotton is top quality, hemp, raffia - but this has brought African textile manufacturing down & prevents autonomous industrial production -
They can but it still will not solve the problem coz so much clothes are produced and dumped. India has its own problem with plastic waste. Partly because Western Europe and USA dumps there part is general lack of education and infrastructure needed to proper waste management. And I don't mean anything complex. I mean separating bio waste from rest of trash. Govt is doing some progress like building inscinerators with good filters but since there is problem with sorting trash it breaks down often
IN MY COUNTRY, THESE SECONDHAND CLOTHES ARE CALLED ‘BUNDLE’ AND THEY COULD BE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN NEW ONES BECAUSE OF THEIR SO-CALLED ‘VINTAGE’ LABEL.
You live in the US?
@@adrianchandler7853 - SOUTHEAST ASIA.
That denim jumpsuit uniform is amazing 😍 them lads are doing an amazing job and are having a huge impact in Ghana i hope others are inspired to start up cycling since it seems like fast fashion is going nowhere anytime soon
I have the idea that if people grew their clothing, things would be much better. Hemp is 100% natural and biodegradable, and is far more durable.
They already do... It's called cotton....
@@WrongThink_ Well first off cotton is not near as durable or versatile as hemp. Second, it has a kind of slavery undertone to it and third, it is actually detrimental to the environment to grow, tend and manufacture when compared with hemp, which is totally global warning proof. There ya go
I think a point this story missed is that we in UK/USA etc are donating our clothing, meaning we expect it will be given to the needy instead of sold. I think many people would be surprised to find their "worthless" used clothes are being sold.
That is what I said some crooks have turned the good intentions of kind hearted people into a business .
This is a really great documentary. I’m planning to produce academic research on the issue in Ghana and this has been super useful!
The ideal thing for the people selling clothes in the market it's to do something like the last guys,transform and give a new lease of life to the clothes if you have sewing skills.For example,if one side of a shirt it's ripped or dirty you can reuse the other side to make a pouch or money bag.This way the waste will be reduced and they will put different products in the market.Very sad that the place has become a dumping ground.
I wonder if they could sell the scraps of clothing for quilt making? I am so sorry for their great losses and the massive waste they have to deal with! 😩😥
Quilters mostly prefer cotton - not 100% polyester. But yes, I saw those plaid men's shirts, and admit to pangs of envy. ;) (I'm a quilter.)
@@beckypetersen2680 I understand that most quilters prefer cotton (I'm a quilter too), but this is Africa we're talking about. They're not so particular, especially when it comes to blankets to keep a person warm at night.
@@godschildyes I get it. But if we are using scraps of fabric, using scraps of cotton is wonderful - there are lots of them. I've made literally a couple hundred quilts from second-hand fabrics including shirts, sheets, duvet covers, curtains. I try to use all cotton, but sometimes use a mix of cotton/poly, cotton/linen, etc. I try to avoid all poly as it can't be ironed as easily as the rest - but if I were a wonderful print, I might use it anyway. Just have to be careful with the ironing.
@@beckypetersen2680 But we're talking about poor people in Africa, not about you. How did this become about you?
It's not about me - but when you said to sell the scraps of clothing for quilt making, I only suggested that most quilters actually want to use a more natural fabric if they can. Certainly didn't meant to make you upset about something. Have a great day - I was trying to contribute to the conversation. I'll bow out now.
In Ukraine and Bulgaria poor people burn clothes to survive harsh winter
Blame your leaders. But I also hate fashion.
This is why i make scrunchies, rags, doormats, kids clothes from old clothes or unused ones.
Yes fast fashion is absolutely too blame but isn't there some blame of the Ghanaian people for just dumping clothes into the sewers? Why hasn't the Ghanaian government developed a collection plan? Why don't the people care about their ecosystem? It doesn't matter what happens with the clothes coming in if they don't fix the problem they already have. The Ghanaian people have to decide they care about their coast lines and stop putting clothes in the sewers.
Dude... You know what kind of caliber most people from Africa are right? These guys are about as educated on basic f#)_(&king civil infrastructure and sanitation as a drunk toddler with a bottle of jungle juice cocktail from tipsy bartender. Also the gub'ment there is so corrupt, it makes the US gub'ment look like a saint.
Fair point. They need to regulate the import of these clothes so the system recieves a shock and the impact is felt from the source, the west
Money. You need to have money to enforce such regulations across the board. People need to be paid in order to collect waste that others have dumped and more policing agents would need to be hired to keep people from dumping in the first place.
There was a time when it was seen as less of an issue to litter in the US and places were full of trash. But then things like the EPA was created in the 70s, with which many people were hired to clean up and enforce anti-dumping and anti-littering policy.
Ghana isn't nearly as wealthy.
The problem with "collection plans" is that countries like Ghana or patches of waste like the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch are the solutions for first world governments.
When your country says to use recycle bins provided by the city, those recycle bins are collected by people who will sell it to Ghane. The documentary literally explains that to show how these merchants get their clothes.
Unfortunately for the Ghanian people, they have been made the last in the pecking order of waste collection, so there is no country that will by their waste from them.
Because of overproduction from brands and fast fashion, the amount of trash that people produce is no longer small enough for people to sell back and continue using and no longer usable by those people either. That is why the documentary puts the blame on fast fashion, because fashion companies would rather make more cheap clothes to make more money rather than make quality clothes that last years.
Good comment, to be fair, most world's dramas are from people's bad choices,then actions...change of mind set would topple the problems
Cotton and linen fabric can be recycled in paper making industry.
Excellent reporting. I’m in USA m. My eyes are opened. I’m thinking what part do I play and how do I reduce my consumption of clothing. Im learning to appreciate what I already have.
Thanks for covering this!
The clothing is also very toxic for the environment not just the waste but the toxins they are made with as there are very few clothes made from organic materials and cotton. Now imagine burning it all that toxicity in the atmosphere and probably worse when burnt
How can you blame 'The West' for this, people think they are donating to charity, to homeless people for example.
Ghana's government allows the mass importing of this stuff, at the expense of domestic production and industry, but it's easier to just blame 'The West'.
Its donated from around the world even Australia not just the UK thank you very much darln.
Why don’t they use unwanted clothes and make quilts 🤷🏾♀️ They could donate them to hospitals and poor people in their country.
Because people need to make a living. Jobs are nonexistent here.
Maybe this is a really dumb idea for reasons I don't understand, but couldn't they take to burying all the non synthetic clothing deep underground in the desert so it'll both biodegrade and hold extra water in the ground soil? In theory it would both eliminate waste and improve land conditions no?
Think about how the soil is layered. Ever try to dig a hole there? Desert soil is hard and dry, too packed down to easily penetrate. Even non-synthetic clothing won't biodegrade quickly. The entire process becomes more complex when clothes are made from a mix of synthetic and non-synthetic fibers. Just like drinking containers made from both plastic and paper, they don't degrade fast enough and are too costly to recycle. Don't worry about the groundwater table underneath the desert. The depletion of water there is a result of more point (such as wells and springs) and non-point sources (climate and vegetation). To answer your question, yes, the idea could "eliminate" waste, but only from the eyes. Our trash would remain. Secondly, no, land conditions would never improve by simply using another biome as a dumping ground. Doing so just means we're copying and pasting the problem somewhere else, sadly hoping we've alleviated the damage being done to a place like Ghana. What's crucial is to focus on sustainability - a concept stressing intergenerational equity for the people, environment, and overall economy. Here's what it takes: 1) Fashion companies have to reduce the amount of resources being used to manufacture clothes. 2) Those synthetic fibers we've developed need to be regulated. 3) Whatever "waste" the companies are making should be held accountable and pay a fee/fines for doing so. 4) People purchasing from these companies should be informed about the amount of pollution being created. 5) Governments of developing countries need to limit the importation of clothing waste. 6) The connection behind receiving higher education and a higher standard of living must be re-focused. 7) The hardest part: Gathering a team of like-minded politicians, environmentalists, and engineers to build efficient infrastructure to manage the waste problem. 8) From there on out, everybody has to begin viewing the problems and solutions long-term, not short-term.
Remember, the world doesn't only revolve around money, but kindness as well.
@@countryantiques45 that's all well and good, but more than just preventative measures will be needed to fix the problem. We're going to have to find something to do with the current waste at the end of the day. Any ideas?
Most waste needs air to degrade into.
Put it in the bottom of a plant pot to hold moisture.
I never knew this is where second hand clothing ends up. Now that I know I’ll be more careful of what I donate so it’s better quality for them if they eventually get something of mine.
God bless you
Well done I’m obsessed with underreported world reporting 😊
Going on eight billion people in the world, still there is too much clothes. This is what we have destroyed and polluted our environment for, the rich get richer, the poor suffers, the land suffers, for what? There was a time my granddad told me, that the same suit a man got married in, he was buried in it, as well just saying
Thats what we did to our grandpa. He was Buried in the same suit that he got married in.
@@karolinak828 Well, another person understands, we know this is the century of prosperity, but our real treasure, is our environment
They don’t want you to film because these are donations which they got for free in the UK but are now selling. Research the secondhand clothing market which is now a billion dollar market.
Yes people making high profit with donated goods and it is a big scam.
just an fyi for anyone who cares, armpit / sweat stains don't actually mean your clothing item is trash. you can totally remove that shit with special cleaners and have your item like new again.
Or you can dye it into darker colour. Plus organic soap kills way more germs than detergent
I donate textiles for recycling. I wash them before doing so and I mark on the bag it's all rags basically. I hate the idea it could end up polluting someone's beach when my intention is for it to be recycled (they use shredded rags for other things)
It's secondhand clothes for donation not meant for business. Ghana should take a stronger stance on this if they don't want to deal with it.
Diamonds and Gold for leftovers you gots to be kidding me☹
Same is going on Eastern Europe
Firstly, sexy reporter, but on topic, this is why I don't buy cheap clothes and many of fast fashion consumers are women who can't be seen wearing the same outfit 🤦♂
For me the problem is not the bussiness and the way they feed there families.
But...the exploitation from manufacturer ..to the importers.
The quality from the beginning up to that time was degrading...and called as trash already.
I buy used clothing but i make sure it is 100% cotton.
Because....cotton will goes back to nature despite of requiring lots of water rather than polyester or nylon that it takes longest time or will never be decomposed.
When i went to this kind of store....jackpot if i can find 1 or 2....which i can say original by brand and not from a fast fashion.
Barely once in every quarter.
What i have noticed are mountanous clothes with a very poor quality..
Linien, hemp and wool are also good natural fibers.
in the philippines we called ukay - ukay which means dig and dig i also buy clothing there i just revice it well to choose the good ones it’s better than the cheap ones that come from china
Come on guys those are charity clothes and they are supposed to be handed out for free......they are not a commodity to be sold for profits by unscrupulous traders.
When I buy a bag of wiping cloths for the garage I dont set fire to them in the street when ive wiped my hands on them !!!!!!!
Great comment Mark!
@@jerryleroy9187 Cheers Jerry !
True. But fuel to ships also cost so I guess that is why they sell it.
Wow, I can’t believe people are donating this stuff. When I donate, I throw away the junk and donate what I can. So sad.
I saw they did it to Kenya. We make our clothes export them then turn around and import garbage. It’s about time we consume ours and not agree to the fast fashion trend.
Why do people buy so many clothes in the first place? Boredom?
It's more about trying to deal with insecurity while being brainwashed by fast fashion brands like Nike or Adidas into buying their stuff eventhough these brands have no morality.
From now on I’m putting my stuff in the bin instead of giving to charity at least that way it ends up in UK landfills
That's cruel. Your second hand clothing actually provides clothing and business for some
You don't have such guarantee as lot of UK sends its trash to 3rd world countries. Like what? Did you really think that all fast fashion trash would fit in UK landfills? Your country is a small island. Even USA sends it to poor countries. Sending to a charity at least gives a chance of it going to a person in need. And don't use plastic clothes coz plastic never biodegrades and therefore microplastics can now be found in pretty much everything. Mostly in fish
So those donation clothing bins are being taken and sold instead of being given to women and children that have no clothes on their backs. I suspected this already ...but not at this level. Disgusting.
On the middle class housing estates i live on uk i get a charity bag through door every month or more. As a long term charity shop user through necessity I've seen the quality and availability of clothing drop dramatically these last 2 covid years. What a mess everything is.
What about accepting only what is acceptable? -Meaning coming from the ships or trade point. Those selling the big baggage of clothing check it before they give it to their buyers.
Packing what is acceptable in the bags to sellers, and from there they can buy and pick through what they want to sell in the markets.
Also if the clothing waste ends up anywhere other than the actual landfill then they should fine (or tax) the clothing market. That will insure that they only throw it away where it needs to be thrown.
And finally if the government is allowing the shipment of these clothing then the government should be finding the solution for the waste that comes with it. And how to compost it better.
The translation 😭, in the beginning of Abena's conversation spoked in Twi, she said "we'll pray, it's okay."
This is very farfetched but would you be able to get in touch with Ms Abena. I would love to partner with her and sell her actual QUALITY clothes.
Why is the waste not used for patchworking, blanket, bag, jewellery making, upcycling, furniture covering, crafting, cleaning cloth/duster making etc ?
That book we read at school, African dustbin was correct to the tea.
One good solution is to place a temporary ban on these imported items to reduce the amount of waste currently in the country. There is enough clothing available to sustain the market until the environmental pollution is reduced to a considerable level. Quality control should be put in place to avoid any more pollution, or importers could face fines for less quality importation.
Why so much "background" music?? (It's too loud.) Long gone are the days when we could just listen to people speak. Otherwise, good information.
How does Ghana manage to be unaffected by the Islamist insurgency that impacts all the countries near to it?
Because the evangelical Christian missionary insurgency got a better foothold there first, lol. But you do know Islam in Africa started spreading in the 7th century, right? This isn't new. So, I don't know why you'd refer to it as an insurgency in 2022.
Honestly, it's simply because Ghana is in West Africa, which firstly, it took Islam longer to reach being that it entered by land through Egypt.
Ghana was stumbled upon by European Christian explorers. They met the Ashanti people. The Ashanti were welcoming and it just so happened that elements of their native religion, Akan, bore a number of odd similarities to Christianity-including a cross being an important symbol to them. They basically took the info about Christianity as kinda like new information.
The majority of the African continent is Christian though, regardless (51% Christian vs. 40% Muslim).
thanks for this informative discussion
@@Meladjusted You must realise the difference between missionary preaching & insurgencies by IS, Boko Haram etc. What's happening in many W African countries certainly qualify as insurgency.
@@andrewjones575 - We really wish today that we had rejected the foreign religions of christianity and islamic. Neither's worth it.
Main take away from this for me is to only donate what you yourself would wear.
Charge the corporation and consumer a waste tax, think twice in production and consumption
We have waste tax in the Netherlands.
This is happening but I can't have a straw with my milkshake
The influencers and Kourtney Kardiashian need to stop promoting and working with Boo Hoo.
They are all plastic not only silicon is in her body but also on her body. All plastic, all fake
Lord Jesus this is terrible 😞 I never knew this until now
Grind it up. Melt it down. And reuse. Find something to do with it. Make bricks with it. Build houses.
You should wash the clothes
I think we in the West have to create some sort of selection mechanism so that the clothes that are really worn out won't be exported. This way, at least every pound the seller invests will have a positive return on investment. We also need to educate our own populations to only dispose to these charities of clothes that are slightly wearable. Since it's donated, the cost for them is 0
Hey I saw my flip flops there 🤩
The Revival dudes were dope
My sister knows this but she told me she can’t help buying online because it’s her stress reliever from work….
There's a potential job for you a gold mine in that large landfill of clothes nobody wants textile recycling industry and they paid you to do it for them, you would probably need to invest into shredder and assembly line plus other stuff to start businesses (like decarbonizer and way to spin fine shredded textile into threads to finall product ) but look it that way it's definitely secure job nobody is doing.
The clothes can be cut up and sewn into other things, like small kid’s clothes. 🤷🏻♀️
Why don't the country of origin (for the clothes,) as or the buyer's of the bundles wash the clothes? This just seems like such a waste that either side could fix by simply giving the garments a good washing and some good quality washing liquids.
It’s a shame how much waste from the West ends up in Ghana.
I ended up here after watching Reggie Yates spend a week with the burner boys at the E-Waste site
They can take the old clothes and make rugs and sell them.
What is the name of the upcycling places? Is there a way to donate to them?
It would be nice if they can find a way to recycle these materials for table cloths.... curtains.... mats... etc
All those fires cause a lot of air & environmental pollution, but it's heartbreaking to see the pollution of the beaches and the sea.
Africans we need to be creative and think outside the box
I had no idea it would be wadte in Ghana or whatever countrt. I was told they use worn clothes to make washclothes out of it.
The reporters hair is beautiful by the way
Seems like fair business, Ghana wants the product so it’s sold to them. If Ghana stops purchasing used clothes then it would be sold elsewhere.
Purchasing good used clothes, and purchasing unknown bundles that are filled with trash, are two seperate things. Somewhere along the line, the system changed, and it went from selling quality items that could be resold, to foisting garbage onto desperate people, sight unseen. I think YOU should go live there (with no money) and see how well YOU fare. How dare you further victimize people who have already been victimized by a corrupt system for years. They did not CHOOSE this. It was chosen for them.
If these places weren't so corrupt they could have the infrastructure to deal with waste. A massive incinerator could potentially produce tons of power with all the waste. Have trucks pick it up and burn it in an environmentally friendly way. You can see there IS money there by the major city in the background during the beach scene so why don't they do something about it? Oh yeah, they don't HAVE to.
Of course the commercial that played before this was a fashion shopping commercial
being from the uk were told that our clothes w donate go to people who need them and havnt got any having watched this episode i was horrified to learn that what i thought wa going to needy people is actually being sold on for profit .. so i blame their government for this issue another african government allowing their country to be used as a dumping ground for profit then complaining that our clothes are not good enuff to make money from . they cant have it both ways im afraid ....
What a shame. 😥
is it cheaper in the end, to buy 5 hot pieces from Amazon instead of a monthly bundle 75% trashed?
is creation / couture the way that never lets you down?
That's like a thrift shop
🤔 Maybe it's time consumers demand manufacturers to recycle their products or pay extreme tariffs for overproduction that causes waste. It's harsh but waste is harmful for the Earth & shouldn't be neglected by gov'ts.