What Your Cheap Clothes Cost the Planet

"The Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the most beautiful and forbidding places on earth, so dry that it's sometimes used by scientists to test-run Mars missions. Most years, the area sees less than half a centimeter of rain, but this past September unusually heavy precipitation brought forth a desert bloom, blanketing the ground with delicate purple flowers that disappeared as quickly as they'd appeared."

"This fashion graveyard has become so large that some outlets have dubbed it the "great fashion garbage patch." It owes its growth to the nearby duty-free port of Iquique, where Chile imports all manner of international goods without customs or taxes-including heaps of used clothing from the United States, Europe, and Asia. While the best items are resold to international markets, overwhelming volumes of cheap, fast-fashion pieces don't make the cut. Instead, they are dumped in the desert-an open secret that the government largely ignores."

The Atacama Desert receives almost no rainfall and is so dry that scientists sometimes use it to test-run Mars missions. An unusually heavy September rain produced a brief desert bloom of purple flowers. Since 2001, large mountains of discarded clothing have accumulated; the largest contained about 100,000 tons before it was burned in 2022. The duty-free port of Iquique imports vast quantities of used garments, and while high-quality items are resold, overwhelming volumes of cheap fast-fashion are dumped in the desert. Open burnings of these piles release smoky, unhealthy air into nearby towns. Activists have documented the dumpings and sued authorities. The problem stems from a globalized supply chain that produces ever-cheaper styles and large waste volumes.

Read at The Nation