Clothing from the garbage mountain in the Atacama desert is ‘sold’

In the Chilean Atacama desert, clothing is “sold” by a large garbage mountain to hopefully reduce the mountain. The original idea comes from the digital trading platform VTEX in cooperation with Fashion Revolution Brazil and Desierto Vestido, as can be seen in a press release.

The Atacama desert serves as a landfill for disposed of clothing. An estimated 39,000 tons of textiles are unloaded there every year, according to Fashion Revolution Brazil. A large part of the clothing comes from the United States, Europe and Asia.

The items are offered on the Re-Commerce Atacama website free of charge, the customer: Inside, only the shipping costs. The clothing is cleaned, sorted and repaired after the salvage before it is brought back to circulation. The first “drop” of products has already taken place and was sold out within five hours. The articles were sent to more than ten different countries.

“We believe that every piece of clothing has a story and a purpose. Our mission is to save these clothing and give them a second chance and thus raise awareness of the excessive consumption that today’s fashion industry is pursuing,” says Mariano Gomide de Faria, CEO von Vtex, the company that is responsible for the digital platform of the project.

“We want to go beyond e-commerce: Our initiative invites you to think about the consequences of our current production, consumer and waste model. We are 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 clothing, and to stimulate new ways in dealing with it,” adds Fernanda Simon, Managing Director by Fashion Revolution Brazil.