Viloa Wohlgemuth, a Greenpeace Campaigner for Resources Protection spoke to Euronews about the ongoing lack of regulation of the fashion industry.
Greenpeace staged a protest to criticize the excesses of fashion brands at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The demonstration coincided with the start of the Berlin Fashion Week.
”We are protesting against the waste colonialism of the fashion industry. Because behind me are 4.6 tons of fashion, and waste of plastic waste that lands up in Ghana at the Qatar mine to market in just one week,” said Wohlgemuth.
She added ”We have to change this whole model. The alternative for buying new, producing new has to become the new normal. That means renting, sharing second hand, repairing upcycling. This has to become the new normal”.
Wohlgemuth spoke about the textile industry exporting a container with 4-6 tonnes of textiles or approximately 19,000 pieces of clothes per week to places in Africa such as Kantamanto- second hand market in Accra Ghana.
This causes massive ground pollution locally and health issues, she said.
Greenpeace are demanding that the textile industry take responsibility for its own rubbish.