How fast fashion waste is choking Ghana’s beaches #fastfashion #fashion #clothing

Do you ever wonder where all our fast fashion cast-offs end up? Subscribe to The Guardian on YouTube ► http://bit.ly/subscribegdn 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. Read more ► https://ift.tt/78eGo3Q “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. The Guardian publishes independent journalism, made possible by supporters. Contribute to The Guardian today ► https://bit.ly/3biVfwh Sign up to the Guardian's free new daily newsletter, First Edition ► https://ift.tt/u5FoLkX Website ► https://ift.tt/Kvn0ghX Facebook ► https://ift.tt/AHqkSez Twitter ► https://twitter.com/guardian Instagram ► https://ift.tt/2zwolqa The Guardian on YouTube: Guardian News ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs Guardian Australia ► https://bit.ly/guardianaussubs Guardian Football ► https://bit.ly/gdnfootballsubs Guardian Sport ► https://bit.ly/gdnsportsubs It's Complicated ► https://bit.ly/ItsComplicatedSubs Guardian Live ► https://bit.ly/guardianlivesubs #ghana #accra #ghananews #shorts