By Francisca Vargas Ramos
In recent years, second-hand or "vintage" clothing has positioned itself as one of the most preferred by many and many. For a while I thought it was the lesser evil than what the fast fashion phenomenon brought with it and the excessive production of clothing that many retail brands have adopted lately. However, it turns out that it is not the lesser evil.
Perhaps you have already heard that Chile is one of the countries that consumes the most clothing per person. According to the Parliamentary Technical Advisory, carried out this year by Sofia Calvo and Guido Williams at the Library of National Congress, in the last 20 years the purchase of clothing has increased by 233%. In addition, they indicate that according to Euromonitor of 100% of the clothing that Chileans buy, only 8% are made in our country.
More and more people are consuming used or second-hand clothing and in recent years its growth has been explosive since a trend in terms of environmental awareness has been established. The textile industry is one of the most polluting and, in the face of the climate emergency, it has been more important to find ways to mitigate all the damage it has caused. Recycling or upcycling are two ways to be able to have greater responsibility as a consumer. However, some analyzes could shed light on how we as a country could do more.
According to figures provided by the Central Bank this year, in 2021 736,183 tons of clothing were imported. A figure that calls into question the irregularity in textile imports that arrive during the year at the port of Iquique, where bales of clothing of 45, 40, 23 and 20 kilos are received from Europe, the United States, Korea and Japan.
According to the digital media Quinta Trends, sources from the Tarapacá Region indicated that 70% of imported used clothing was discarded, which has led to the creation of illegal dumps in the desert, particularly in the Alto Hospicio commune, which many named as "Dressed Desert" and that was addressed in more than one report in the national media.
Although in 2021 the increase in clothing and footwear consumption in our country is attributed to GDP growth since as consumers we managed to access cheaper clothing, second-hand clothing sounded even more tempting. In addition, we cannot deny that there have been many of us who have found more than once a "jewel" of wardrobe that we take care of every day as best we can.
Unfortunately in our country there is an excessive amount of second-hand clothing and every month much more enters. They are bundles and bundles of clothing that we could not finish using and of which only a part is finally marketed and used by us.
There is still no law that can regulate the number of tons that arrive at the national port each month, however, it is checked that the used clothing that enters our country is properly sanitized and that this process is certified by the exporting country where it is specify the sanitary process to which it was submitted before shipment. In this way, the spread of diseases is prevented.
In addition, the article issued by the Library of National Congress indicates that "the Ministry of the Environment is supporting the creation of a Clean Production Agreement (APL) in the textile sector for pre- and post-consumer waste, with a view to enabling it to be incorporated as a priority product of the Law of Extended Responsibility of the Producer (REP)”.
Countries like Peru, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic are prohibited from importing clothing into their countries. While countries like France and the European Union have opted for actions that are committed to the extended responsibility of the producer of the textile sector, that is, to care responsibly for the use that will be given to textile waste, clothing, footwear, etc. thus fostering the strategy of circularity and sustainability in fashion, actions that would be important to repeat in our country.
But while some public policy projects that seek to improve the national textile industry begin to be discussed and raised, we as consumers can take some action on the matter. An example of this would be being able to have a capsule closet so as not to fall into excessive and compulsive purchases. Especially in this era of fast fashion where Shein was recently denounced again for perpetuating terrible working conditions for its workers in exchange for massive profits creating new collections every week.
Although the discussion gives for much more, it is necessary to see the glass half full. And at Nashion It we tell you -if you didn't already know- that in Chile we can find organizations like Eco Fiber Chile that, based on the problem of textile landfills in the north, created an innovative initiative to transform this waste into thermal insulation for the construction of households.
