Our actions continue to harm the environment, and recent heat waves around the world have highlighted the factors contributing to climate change. In many African countries, including Ghana, second-hand clothing is very common, with over 15 million garments arriving in places like the Katanmato market every week. Despite efforts to resell and remanufacture these clothes, a significant amount still ends up as waste, leading to environmental and health problems when they are sent to landfills and burned. Although the government has made efforts to address this issue, progress has been slow.
The Or Foundation is investigating ways to turn these unused garments into something useful without harming the environment. People love second-hand clothing, and regulating the sale of these clothes is challenging. However, consultations with consumers and retailers suggest that second-hand clothing is popular because of its uniqueness and affordability. I am delighted to be part of this research work.
It's clear that many people don't care about what happens to the surplus garments in the market. As part of our research, we aim to investigate people's perceptions and figure out ways to repurpose or recycle these garments into something useful. During our research, we were surprised to discover that the majority of respondents had not seen or heard of any initiatives aimed at recycling these products.
These wanted clothes can be turned into something else such as a mart
I must commend the work of the team for being creative with these products. This is so amazing. Now we want to find out if people will be more willing to patronize this kind of products when ready in turn unlike ending up at the landfill site.
We are all in this fight together, we can contribute to making our world a better place for us all.
