[Image: BBC / Youtube]
A mountain of discarded clothing in the Atacama desert is being sold for the “price of shipping” in an apparent fightback against the “racist and colonialist” dumping of unwanted clothing.
The Atacama desert in northern Chile has become the dumping ground for over-produced luxury clothing and every week, locals venture into the area to hunt for discarded items, still in perfect condition, which is then sold.
About 300 of these items, including Nike and Adidas shorts, Calvin Klein jeans and leather skirts, have now been listed for free online – if you’re willing to pay for shipping – with the first batch sold out in five hours, bought by customers from countries including Brazil, China, France, the US and the UK.
Re-Commerce Atacama is part of an initiative to highlight the growing issue of discarded clothing in Chile and global textile waste. It was launched following a fashion show held in the desert last year, where models walked a sand catwalk wearing outfits made from local waste.
“We want people to actively engage and become agents of change—not just by viewing content, but by purchasing, sharing, and telling the story of what’s happening here in the desert,” says Barria, co-founder of Desierto Vestido (Dressed Desert), an organization focused on raising awareness about textile waste.
“At first, there was a certain disbelief on my part to see this happening. I asked myself why garments in perfect condition were being discarded in the desert when there are many people who might like to wear them. It’s sad. It really makes you feel powerless.”
Chile has long been a major destination for secondhand and unsold clothing, much of it from China and Bangladesh, with a large amount passing through Europe, Asia, or the US before reaching the country. In 2022, over 131,000 tonnes of clothing were sent to Chile, with most arriving in Iquique, a northern city known for one of South America’s largest duty-free ports.
While some of this clothing is resold, up to 70% ends up in desert landfills each year.
It’s forbidden to dump textile waste in Chile’s landfills, yet thousand of tonnes of clothing end up in the desert. The problem is so big that pictures of a mountain of clothes taken from space went viral in 2023.
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In recent years, people have resorted to burning the waste in an attempt to hide the extent of it, resulting in toxic clouds of smoke that are an environmental and health concern for the surrounding communities.
Desierto Vestido have now teamed up with fashion activists Fashion Revolution Brazil, Brazilian advertising agency Artplan and the e-commerce platform Vtex, to show the world just how destructive fast fashion can be.
Every second, the equivalent of a truckload of clothes ends up in a landfill somewhere around the world.
Fernanda Simon, director of Fashion Revolution Brazil, sees the project as “an act of activism that reveals what is behind fashion and proves we can do things differently”.
“More than removing clothes from the desert, we wanted to inspire solutions, rethink the fashion model and show that we must talk about circularity.”
If you are keen to get your hands on some desert duds, the next drop is expected in April, and anyone interested can add their name to a mailing list for when more clothes get dumped in the desert.
[Source: The Guardian]
