FOOS DWA MU AKUKUDAM | We Are the Circular Economy

Over the last year our team has spent a lot of time checking in on retailers to understand the pandemic’s impact. We also used this time to talk to retailers about the way their work is branded by the Global North — the language used & the money that is invested. 15 million garments flow through Kantamanto Market on a weekly basis. We often talk about the 40% that does not get sold to hold Big Fashion accountable. Kantamanto did not cause the waste crisis. On the contrary, Kantamanto’s ecosystem of retailers, dyers, printers, cleaners, tailors & upcyclers recommodify exponentially more clothing than any “modern,” technology-enabled resale “platform” in the Global North. ThredUp’s 2020 report states that they have “recirculated” 100 million items total since @thredup began in 2009. By comparison, Kantamanto “recirculates” 100 million items every 4 months. If the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's calculations are correct that doubling the number of times a garment is worn lowers GHG emissions by 44%, then the Kantamanto community is certainly doing its part to combat climate change. Most of the clothing that ends up in Kantamanto is considered “low grade.” It’s the stuff that the Global N, including resale platforms, do not want & cannot make a profit from. It has been passed around from business to business, country to country, like a hot potato. But once it hits Kantamanto, that’s that. Not only is there nowhere for unsold clothing to go, but Kantamanto receives none of th