A pair of pants spends much less time in our wardrobe than in the African landfill where it may end up after we leave it in a container, comforted by the idea of giving it a second life. Very likely, the garment will travel thousands of miles, with the carbon footprint that this journey entails, and due to a collapsed and uncontrolled system and the poor quality of its materials, it will never be used again. Its ‘second life’ will ultimately be a mountain of garbage in countries of the Global South or a polluting open-air bonfire, where 40% of the clothes we send to Africa end up.
Published by Promoting Economic Pluralism
