Once the brief life of the garments in Europe is over, they return as donations to “third world countries” where they worsen the already existing contamination situation. Every year more than 62 million tons of clothing are produced, leading to the contamination of water, atmosphere, and land by the textile industries and the entire process that it entails, such as the materials used, transportation, and the thousands of wastes that are created from garments that have not been sold. Gikomba, in Kenya, is the best-known used clothing market in East Africa. Kenyans are big fans of second-hand markets because the clothing is cheaper there compared to the local textile industry and they also contribute in generating a large amount of income for the nation. People in Western countries mistakenly assume that their clothing donations will be a form of charity for the most vulnerable in less developed regions or that they will be sold in stores to raise money. The reality is that our donations will be sold for profit in other countries and 70% are unusable garments that worsen pollution in African countries, Kenya being one of the most affected states in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Janet Chemitei, Africa Regional Coordinator at Threading Change, argues that richer countries are using countries like Kenya as rubbish dumps for waste they cannot recycle themselves. Kenya is one of the largest importers of second-hand clothing – what is called mitumba in Kiswahili – in sub-Saharan Africa, as it is cheap and the population can boast Western brand clothing. This entails a loss of the typical cultural style of Kenyan clothing – what in Kiswahili is called kitenge or ankara – and an impoverishment of traditions to match a European or American model. Janet Chemitei claims that the fabrics that Western countries use to produce garments are synthetic fibers that they produce from fossil fuels, which also harms the environment in the long run, the people who make these clothes, and us who wear them.