And when you say YES to discounts and promotions, they’re the ones who suffer the consequences:
15 MILLION GARMENTS ARRIVE IN KANTAMANTO (GHANA) EVERY WEEK
This year we went to Ghana with our Founder & President, Javier Goyeneche, to meet the people who are on the front lines of fashion’s waste crisis. Accra’s Kantamanto Market is the largest secondhand market in the world, seeing around 15 MILLION GARMENTS EVERY WEEK, GARMENTS THAT WERE DISCARDED BY CITIZENS IN THE GLOBAL NORTH, PRIMARILY THE EU AND UK. After being sorted as reusable in the Global North, these clothes are exported to Ghana where local entrepreneurs purchase them.They are then opened in Kantamanto Market where this community of 30,000 people successfully recirculates million garments on a monthly basis through reuse, repair and upcycling.
Despite being a global example of circularity, 40% end up as waste due to the poor quality of the garments and the lack of waste management infrastructure in Ghana. Without access to a sanitary landfill or incinerator, much of this waste enters their environment, causing environmental degradation and plunging secondhand retailers into debt. The unsold clothing is dumped in the streets, swept into canals during the rains, and carried out onto the beaches, where they form mounds of “textile tentacles.” What was once a place of life and livelihood, a sanctuary for turtles and birds, is now a landscape buried under tangled masses of synthetic waste.
THERE IS NO AWAY. OUR CLOTHING DOESN’T DISAPPEAR, IT IS SENT TO ANOTHER PART OF THE WORLD
The Or Foundation is a Ghana-based NGO working hand in hand with the Kantamanto community to reduce the waste through market-wide collection programs, to improve working conditions, to build recycling infrastructure and to regenerate the beaches and other ecosystems that have been destroyed by textile and other plastic waste. Every week, The Or Foundation’s Tide Turners Cooperative comes together to clean the beach. Through consistency and perseverance, this team of 65 people has inspired a growing number of volunteers to show up and lend a hand.
TIDE TURNERS REMOVES AN AVERAGE OF 30 TONNES OF TEXTILE AND OTHER PLASTIC WASTE FROM ACCRA’S BEACHES EVERY WEEK.
THIS SHOULDN’T BE ACCRA’S BURDEN, IT’S A CRISIS OF OUR COLLECTIVE CONSUMPTION.
Cheap, mixed-fiber clothing allows us to stay up to date with the fleeting trends, being only worn 7-10 times* before being tossed out to make room for the next trend. When tossed aside, it drifts across continents where it destroys ecosystems, biodiversity and communities.
THE HEROES ON THE FRONTLINE
Join us in saying “no” to Black Friday, opting for a more mindful way to shop, invest in timeless, quality-pieces made from recycled and low-impact materials that can be recycled again. Refuse fast-fashion’s false bargains. Be part of the solution, not the problem. The tide can turn, but we must act now.
Do you want to support The Or Foundation and help the Kantamanto community to responsibly manage textile waste? Visit https://theor.org/work or follow along on social media @theorispresent and @tideturnerscleanup