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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 😒🕵🏻♂️
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.
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_
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 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.
@@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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
the fact that the clothes being thrown away there are not yet being burned for energy is a huge government failure. it's ideal trash for burning, and it would produce massive ecological benefits compared to leaving clothes to rot, and health benefits compared to people burning the clothes in the open with no exhaust filter. keeping the beaches free of trash could also increase the area's attractiveness to tourists. generally a lot of poor countries clearly should be building trash-fired power plants to reduce their waste problems. that would probably also be a good investment for some kind of foreign development aid or loans.
it's quite disappointing that you completely failed to address this obvious solution in this report and instead only showed those two guys repurposing tiny amounts of clothes, and asked the politician about an import ban. those have very little to do with practically solving the trash problem in ghana. they need to actually deal with the trash, and the most practical way to do that at scale is to burn it for energy. I'm sure they'll also find plenty of other trash to burn once they have a power plant for it. in much of the EU, we've stopped putting any household trash in landfills, because practically anything not worth recycling can be burned.
@@Ass_of_Amalek The video is an oversimplification of the situation. Western media don't know how to report on Africa. If a Ghanaian journalist talked about this 100% of the blame will go to the Ghanaian government.
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.
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?
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'.
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.
This fabric is a resource. What can't be turned into new articles of clothing can be made into rugs, mop heads, insulation. The government needs to clean up that mess on the beaches. If they're short on cash, they can let some of the drunks out of jail and give them community service sentences.( That's what they do in the USA to clean up along the highways).
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.
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 !!!!!!!
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.
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)
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.
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..
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
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
Why is the waste not used for patchworking, blanket, bag, jewellery making, upcycling, furniture covering, crafting, cleaning cloth/duster making etc ?
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.
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 🤦♂
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
ive seen so many short docs like this and my comment never change.. europe, canada, australia and u.s old clothes is so much better than their new cheap shirt so dont feel bad that it goes to this people. The trash u saw was their clothes they throw when they get ur old clothings. The only issue is there isa mafia who sells to them instead of free.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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 ....
