How your donated clothes end up burning in landfills a world away
Posted September 7, 2021 5:37 am.
In today’s Big Story podcast, you thought you were helping someone when you put that bag of old clothes in a donation bin. But you probably didn’t. A striking number of clothes donated in Canada and other wealthy countries end up clogging landfills in African nations. While a good suit or jacket might make a real difference to someone who needs one, the vast majority of donated clothes are cheap, fast fashion — and often totally unwearable. And the rise of disposable clothes has swamped the system, turning a process once intended to help into one fraught with inequality and pollution.
GUEST: Linton Besser, Australian Broadcast Corporation
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