New pollution… Pile of clothes made in the desert of Chile [TKB World]

Chile, a country located in South America, is known for its beautiful mountains. There are 22 mountains which are higher than 20 thousand feet. But at this time in the world’s driest desert Atacama, there is such a mountain, which is different from the rest. There is a mountain of discarded clothes in this desert. Everything dumped here, from Christmas sweaters to ski boots. But the problem is that it is spreading a new type of pollution. A new type of garbage is being generated. which is increasing continuously.

Chile has long been a stronghold of secondhand and unsold clothing. Here clothes made in China and Bangladesh reach through Europe, Asia and America. These clothes are sold in Latin America i.e. Chile and its surrounding countries. Chile receives 59,000,000 kilograms of clothing every year. These clothes land at the EBQ port of the Alto Hospicio Free Zone in northern Chile. Which are bought by local cloth merchants. Smuggling of these clothes also happens.

Now the issue is that not all of the clothes that come out every year are used. About 39,000,000 kilograms of clothing are saved in the Atacama Desert each year. Which are constantly taking the form of a mountain. Its big problem is that people change their clothes very quickly. Which is called Fast Fashion Clothing nowadays. But the garbage and pollution spreading due to discarded clothes goes unnoticed.

Chemicals are released from the fibers and dyes of the clothes discarded due to Fast Fashion Clothing, which spoils the environment. A cloth, no matter what type it is, takes 200 years to finish it. But in the Atacama Desert’s Alto Hospicio, this mountain of cloth is growing rapidly. Which is not getting the attention of international organizations.

Due to these mountains of cloth, the socio-economic condition in the surrounding areas is not very good. Due to the fast growing fast fashion clothing, children and women work in the clothing shops here. Many even go to the mountains to find workable clothes. People are employed in the textile industry for very little money. Due to this, the livelihood of the people here goes, but no one is paying attention to the environment.

Many people themselves go to the pile mountains of these clothes and search for clothes for themselves and their family. They sometimes get clothes for free, sometimes at a very low cost. But many locals sort out better clothes from these clothes and sell them there by opening their own small shop. Tourists who come here get clothes at a low price.

According to a United Nations report in the year 2019, the production of cloth globally has doubled between 2000 and 2014. The textile industry accounts for 20 percent of all water pollution in the world. However, the good thing is that not every cloth becomes waste. Nor does it cause pollution. The 300K people living in this area mostly run their jobs by extracting clothes from these mountains.

There is so much cloth in this area of ​​Chile that the shopkeepers here cannot even sell them. The problem is that people in the surrounding countries know about the mountains of cloth here. Therefore, no one wants to pay the cost of transport, cleaning etc. from here. Alex Carreno, a former employee working at the port, told that this place receives cloth from all over the world. The clothes that are not sold in the capital Santiago or other countries, they remain here.