Rancid Piles of Donated Clothes Litter Developing Countries

Recycled clothing is a myth perpetuated by an industry that seeks to create an addiction to retail therapy. Instead, rancid piles of clothing litter beaches and overwhelm landfills.

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• Donated clothing enters a stream of garments, many of which are shipped to poor countries where they are sorted and sold or dumped in landfills creating small mountains of waste along beaches

• Fast fashion, or cheap copies of high fashion garments sold at affordable prices, is a large contributor to the fashion industry’s dirty secret tha…