Fast fashion, clothes waste, clothes recycling, 3rd world

[L0stinCyberspace]

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts about this issue? Was watching Anthony Bourdain's series recently and an episode was in East Africa. Clothes industry there had collapsed because the US insisted they receive 2nd hand recycled clothes, sold on by charities after donation in the US. So don't recycle?

Today, a story in the papers about clothes mountains from unsold fast fashion being dumped, and polluting the Atacama desert. So don't buy either?

What's the solution?

Mass consumerism has gone mad. We have to make considered purchases, buy what we need, not what we want. Buy from companies that are ethical.

Don't waste, I'd have thought. Buy what you need and will wear and look after it. If you can, buy quality items and wear them out. Re-use, mend, etc.

Keep away from fast fashion and fads. Plastic shit, faux leather, stuff that wears out quickly then gets dumped.

I'd imagine that most clothing production is harmful in some way so the less, the better...

Agreed @karcheer but seeing all the new clothes dumped in the Atacama, it seems even if we DON'T buy, it's still being produced???

Stacey Dooley did a good show on this. It's on Netflix. I also recommend Clare press' book "how we went from Sunday best to fast fashion". She has a podcast as well where she interviews lots of people in the garment and sustainability industries.

i would buy more from charity shops if quality was better and lower prices...near me, often its only a few pounds difference...can buy it new.

I don’t know what the answer is. I try making my own clothes but am absolutely useless at it. It takes ‘slow fashion’ to a new level.

I read a while back about designers burning millions worth of fabric and it sickened me.

It does seem to be very complicated because the fashion industry is so amazingly huge. I read Lauren Bravo's book about fast fashion and one of her suggestions is to wash clothes less often to make them last longer.
I volunteered at a charity warehouse a while ago sorting donated clothes. One thing that struck me was that some bags would be full of ladies pyjamas, some barely worn and some with tags on. It seemed like maybe people just bought pyjamas when they didn't find anything better to buy. I suppose society needs to change the mindset that shopping is a hobby.

Here is the article and it said it was the tip of the iceberg:

www.google.ie/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/business-44885983.amp