TEXTILE MOUNTAIN - THE HIDDEN BURDEN OF OUR FASHION WASTE

Europeans throw away 2 million tonnes of textiles each year. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned.

Many of us donate our unwanted clothes to charity shops and clothing collection banks - but do we really know what happens to them then?

Globally, 70% of our donated clothing is baled and sold to textile merchants who ship them overseas for resale in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Textile Mountain highlights the social and environmental cost of the second-hand clothing trade, tracing the path of our unwanted garments from recycling bins in Europe to landfills and waterways in the Global South.
Shot in Kenya, Ireland and Belgium, this 20 minute documentary calls on us to re-imagine the way the way we design, wear and reuse our clothes - so that our fashion waste no longer becomes another country’s burden.

#TextileMountain
#fastfashion
#fashionwaste
#kenya
#wardrobechange
#fashion
#textiles
#environment
#Sustainablefashion

Credits:
Filmed & edited by Fellipe Lopes
Researched and produced by Caitriona Rogerson
On site research by Lindi Campbell Clause Closing music:
‘Mazingira Yetu’ by Larry Dwayne Ft Shamir

[kimberlyperrotis]

Shame on those who donate trash items like these, it’s an insult to the dignity of the secondhand sellers and consumers! Wash and thoroughly inspect everything before donating, if you wouldn’t give it to a friend or family member, don’t donate it!

[robinsnest]

I have one top that I have had for over 20 years, no joke, still looks good and another couple I can’t bring myself to get rid of. And I’m a girl, woman. So, yes, I agree we need to think before we buy, are we meeting a need or a want. I’ve lost 20 pounds in the last year and still haven’t bought a new pair of jeans/trousers or skirt, just tightened the belt. It sickens me to think that people are living in filth and we caused it. Capitalism will never do the right thing and “help” clean up their mess or take any responsibility. So, like that one gent who said a bunch of them went around cleaning up the water/river only later to return to find it all mucked up again. Maybe it’s our turn. Thank you for the video, what an eye opener.

[inspiroue]

I just learned about the Kantamanto market fires in Ghana and the amount of video documentation we have of our textile waste in the Global South is sickening, but should be a wake up call! Hopefully we can keep amplifying content like this

[debratomedi]

Heart breaking...I vowed for 2022 not to buy one single item of clothing...not much a mark from one...but then friend's decided to join me❤

[KirstenMarie_MS]

Well, now I feel a whole lot better about living in scrubs for the last 6 years and still owning pieces I got while in college.

But seriously, when you combine all these documentaries about fast fashion waste, the garbage patch in the Atlantic(?) Ocean, impact of factory farming, etc it paints a very grim picture indeed. How people can deny that human activity is ruining the plants is beyond me.

[andydutton]

I keep repairing the clothes I already own. NOw i feel justified wearing very worn out clothes.

[autumna]

Wonderfully done. This film brought me to tears and educated me so much more than I had originally thought. Thank you so much for sharing.

[alancampbell]

Excellent, interesting and greatly informative. Deserves to be shared widely.

[sydneynwakanma]

great insight into a global problem that most people never thought about.

[roseslacenlaughter]

My mother told me that when she was young, her mom mended cloths over and over, resized them to make them fit someone else in the family. Then after that, all clothing was kept in the home until a traveling rug maker would come to the house. She would stay a day or two. She would take the worn out clothing and weave rugs for the family. She made a small wage, got room and board for those few days and then move on to another household. Things were different in the old days, very little was ever wasted. Shopping for clothing was not a "hobby" as it is today.

[lorimchair]

Start a braided rug business out of all that wonderful material!

[krk_kffin]

I use clothes for many many years and even after that zi try to utilize them in someway before they are discarded. In last 4 years, I have bought no new jeans and i don't think I'll need for next 6 years

[kimberlyperrotis]

Polyester, acrylic, nylon, PVC, etc. clothes and shoes? Just say no!

[LeGrandeCappucinna]

Capitalism at it's best. Corporate Sustainability is the elephant in the room, which requires a new era of big change.

[nqzgjoy]

I WILL MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE.

[akhila]

1 dress and 50 new friends??🤔🤔🤔!! How about you reduce your consumption rate?

[adoe]

International aid does more harm than good.

[julissagamarra]

help or increase of pollution and diseases ?

[helenbakewell]

Well just saviour the fact all that textile can be used in your own couture

[justfine]

Where do you get this information from? Who is making the statistics for this issue. I'm doing a research about this topic but I can't find sources for this information.