The History of Resale Markets: Throwing away clothes for a living

Yes, we’re making more clothes and products than people in the world can use, but what happens to the leftovers? What happens to the communities that we send our excess garments to? Is our trash really someone else’s treasure, or are we harming these people and places more than we’re helping them? Liz Ricketts, designer and founder of The Or Foundation, guides us through where our surplus goods go, how they affect the planet, and what alternatives to this existing model are.

Resources:

Books/Literary Texts/Articles

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire
The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Conditional Development: Ghana Crippled By Structural Adjustment Programmes by Aramide Odutayo
XR Talks: Esther Stanford Xosei: An Introduction to Reparations
Unlearning from Degrowth to Decolonization by Jamie Tyberg
“Se Abrió Paca” Documentary
Afrosartorialism Interview with Sel Kofiga
Kwame Nkrumah’s Suits: Sartorial Politics in Ghana at Independence Abena Dove Osseo-Asare
Developing A National Programme For Textiles And Clothing Recovery by Mohammed Abdullatif Bukhari, Ruth Carrascro-Gallego and Eva Ponce-Cueto (research article on Textile EPR in France)
Ghana Fashion Archive in 3D Project by Asaaba
How to Buy Clothes Built to Last by Kendra Pierre-Louis
Gone Thrifting: How to Build A Better Thrifting System by Emily Stochl
Driving in the Postcolony: An Interview with Jennifer Hart (legacy of colonial transportation infrastructure in Ghana)
Will The Circular Economy Save The Planet by Elizabeth L Cline
EPA Textile Waste Specific Data
What A Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050

Videos/Podcasts

Interview with Solomon Noi, Director of Waste Management for Accra
Interview with Kpone Waste Pickers Association
Our Long Recovery Video
Foos Dwa Mu Akukudam (We are the secondhand experts)
This Is Not Your Goldmine. This Is Our Mess. – an open letter to the fashion industry
Dead White Man’s Clothes – an introduction to KantamantoDenier Interview
This Is What Actually Happens With Your Donated Clothes
Dead White Man’s Clothes - ABC Australia
The Dream Will Never Pay Off - report linking unpaid internships to sustainability issues

Who/What to Follow

The OR Foundation Resources: TheOr.org Deadwhitemansclothes.org @theorispresent
Mawuli: @defortyfive
Nikissi & Bobby: @2ndhandviolence
@wanlov & recommend Wanlov’s video on ocean plastic + textiles
@theslumstudio
@defortyfive
@bold_underlined
@_otteng
@the.bofg
@therevival.earth
@crcl.earth
@sfi_cincinnati
@oseiduro
@lokkohouse
@samanaarchive
@sackiteytesa
@accra_archive
@si.hene
@archiveafrica
@goldcoastghana
@gold.host
@skatenationgh
@upcycled_thrift_ghana
@surfghana
@ghanaartistsclub
@tacorg

Liz Ricketts

Liz Ricketts is a designer, educator and co-founder of The OR Foundation, a USA and Ghana based non-profit working at the intersection of environmental justice, education and fashion development. For the last four years The OR has conducted an in-depth analysis of Accra’s Kantamanto Market, the largest secondhand market in West Africa. Through this work, The OR has highlighted how Kantamanto is both a dumping ground for the Global North’s excess and a model of sustainability from which the Global North could learn. In 2018, The OR Foundation launched the Sustainable Fashion Initiative (SFI) at the University of Cincinnati. SFI is a student-centered coalition working to make the fashion program at UC zero-waste and addressing social inequity within fashion education. Liz consults with brands and municipalities on reducing textile waste, and she has taught at multiple American universities and has mentored over 100 young designers globally.