Clothes from waste mountain in Atacama Desert are 'sold'

A remarkable action: clothing from the well-known waste mountain in the Atacama desert in Chile is 'sold' so that the waste mountain will hopefully shrink a little. It is a cheeky action by Vtex in collaboration with Fashion Revolution Brazil and Desierto Vestido, as can be read in a press release.

The Atacama Desert is a well-known dumping ground for clothing. It is estimated that around 39,000 tons of clothing are dumped in the region each year, according to Fashion Revolution Brazil. This creates mountains of clothing waste. Most of the items come from the US, Europe and Asia.

The items are offered for sale on a website Re-commerce Atacama. However, the products are free and consumers only have to pay for shipping. The clothing is first cleaned after it has been saved from the waste mountain. The items are carefully selected and repaired where necessary so that they can be offered again.

The first 'drop' of products has already taken place and sold out within five hours, with the items being shipped to over ten different countries.

“We believe that every garment has a story and a purpose. Our mission is to rescue these garments and give them a second chance, raising awareness about the excessive consumerism that the current fashion industry pursues,” says Mariano Gomide de Faria, CEO of VTEX, the company responsible for the project’s digital platform.

“We want to go beyond e-commerce: our initiative invites us to reflect on the consequences of our current model of production, consumption and unbridled waste. We are living in a climate emergency and the fashion industry needs more robust commitments. This action is a way to draw attention to what is behind the clothes and provoke new ways of dealing with them,” adds Fernanda Simon, Executive Director of Fashion Revolution Brazil.

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