Mitumba* - A story of used clothing.

 Copyright © Fançoise Herrmann

The documentary, Textile Mountain, produced by Make Europe sustainable for all** shows the impact of the 4 million-ton surplus of used clothing in the world. 70% of which is sold in bales to sub-Saharan Africa. 50% of which is in such a bad state, it ends up in dumps on riverside beds, the sides of roads, or in large fields, such as the well-known, 30-acre, ‘Dandora Dumpsite’ (mountain), on the outskirts of Nairobi (in Kenya).  

The remaining ‘re-usable’ mitumba that floods African markets also ends up canceling all local textile production, since no one can compete with the price or quantity of mitumba. In response to this situation, the documentary highlights two exemplary European solutions to textile waste.  

• ISATIÓ,  a company that uses the principles of a circular economy to upcycle fabric samples into high-quality fashion products, in Brussels, Belgium.
• Nuw Wardrobe, a fashion exchange app and social networking community for sharing clothes, in Dublin, Ireland.

As Annie Leonard, founder and author of The Story of Stuff project puts it: There is no such thing as ‘away’. When you throw something away, it must go somewhere.

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Note

* mitumba is the Swahili term for 'used clothing imported from abroad'.

** Make Europe sustainable for all (MESA), a three-year Development,  Education and Awareness-raising (DEAR) project, combining the expertise and experience of 25 partners from 14 EU countries, EU and global networks. MESA was designed to increase awareness of roles and responsibilities of EU citizens and policymakers in creating a sustainable future for all. The project began in July 2017, and ended in July 2020.

Reference

ISATIÓ (Instagram)

https://www.instagram.com/isatiodesign/

Leonard, A. (2011). The Story of Suff: The Impact of Overconsumption on the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-And How We Can Make It Better. New York, NY: Free Press.
Nuw (Instagram)
https://www.instagram.com/wearenuw/

Textile Mountain (website)
https://www.textilemountainfilm.com/
Textile Mountain (YouTube video in English) [21:39] - European Environmental Bureau (May 29, 2020).  

https://youtu.be/UC4oFmX8tHw 
Textile Mountain (Youtube video available with subtitles in the following languages)

Spanish (ES): https://youtu.be/NSmlaUrWDdo

German (DE): https://youtu.be/zrG3IKUIXjE

French (FR): https://youtu.be/eT46b_CbxZg

Dutch (NL): https://youtu.be/eQGyWpiE0Ok

Italian (IT): https://youtu.be/bLKe6pVp0-k

Portuguese (PT): https://youtu.be/Zk6QoA8iWW0

Slovenian (SL): https://youtu.be/j7lO6vWX6H4

Romanian (RO): https://youtu.be/hsm-MZCrevY

Czech (CZ): https://youtu.be/6bQdoKn3Na8

Polish (PL): https://youtu.be/N1aapJKjJik

The Story of Stuff (website)
https://www.storyofstuff.org/