How fast fashion waste is choking Ghana’s beaches

Do you ever wonder where all our fast fashion cast-offs end up?
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In Ghana, Joseph Ayesu has seen the beaches in the capital city where he grew up become increasingly choked by the weight of fast fashion waste disproportionately ending up on its shores from countries like the UK, US and China.
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“Instead of fishes, [fishermen] are catching clothes,” Ayesu says.
The west African country is one of the world’s largest importers of secondhand clothing from the global north, which is known locally as “obroni wawu” - meaning “dead white man’s clothes”.
Ayesu and his team at @theorispresent an Accra-based non-profit trying to tackle textile waste in Ghana, have headed to the city’s beach every week for the last year to try and shift the “mountains of clothing”.
They collect an average of 25 tonnes of waste clothing each time. But their progress comes in the face of increasing amounts of fast fashion ending up on their shores.
By 2030, global clothing consumption is projected to rise by 63% to 102 million tons from 62 million tonnes in 2019 - equivalent to more than 500 billion additional T-shirts - according to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee published in 2019.
To tackle what they call “waste colonialism”, The Or Foundation is calling for the top 20 brands found in Ghana’s waste stream to publish how many garments they produce each year, with a deadline of Black Friday in November.
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#ghana #accra #ghananews #shorts

[@dillilyeverage315]

👏 more citizen journalism like this please.

[@mickyrhythmvendor]

Very sad to hear this. Respect you for trying to make a difference

[@antlerman7644]

A commendable uphill battle.

[@sienamoreno3776]

Please vote with your dollar and buy sustainable clothes!! I get all my clothes from linen. This cost is not worth is for fast fashion.

[@mattyrjackson4261]

Time for big brands to TURN. OFF. THE. TAP

[@garfellow5038]

Why are 15 million articles of clothing being imported into Ghana each week ?

[@BubacarrTouray-k7p]

❤️👏🏽

[@shubhicutie]

👏👏

[@jdmmg4904]

❤😢

[@thatgirl3960]

So tragic!

[@KryCaNe]

This is all fossil fuels. Pity we can’t get some kind of industry to use this for fuel etc

[@CharityMachain-m3n]

Send clothes to mexico

[@lovereachable]

Not a bad idea actually

[@linafelina]

Maje less clothes

[@yassineme87]

🤦🏻‍♂️

[@CharityMachain-m3n]

Send clothes to Africa

[@erinrivard4964]

Ghana IS in Africa

[@orpattmaks490]

The real question is why are they dumping the 40% in landfills? That was your decision. Stop blaming other countries for your problems 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@sienamoreno3776]

What an ignorant comment. No the problem is wealthy countries with an over consumption culture dumping their waste onto African countries. Its pretty messed up.

[@lovereachable]

​@@sienamoreno3776Well-said

[@garfellow5038]

@@sienamoreno3776Ghanaians are importing $200m of clothing a year. Whose fault is that?