Australia's fast fashion consumption is increasingly causing a mountainous waste nightmare for countries like the Solomon Islands a new documentary by researchers from the QUT School of Design has found.
Good Neighbours, a film about the secondhand clothing trade between Australia and the Solomon Islands, will be launched with a screening tomorrow (Wednesday November 5) at the Design for a Just World symposium being staged by the QUT Centre for Justice and QUT Design Lab.
A powerful, 11-minute exposé, it uncovers the complex and often unseen trade of Australia's secondhand clothing exports to the Pacific Islands - specifically to the capital city of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, which receives tonnes of used clothes from Australia every month.
The result of an Australian-first research project led by Associate Professor Tiziana Ferrero-Regis, along with Dr Zoe Mellick, it takes viewers on a journey through the reality of our clothing donated and exported to other countries. While exposing the environmental toll of fast fashion, it also uncovers a story about the lives of local women who rely on secondhand trade for survival and betterment.
Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Associate Professor Phoebe Hart, the film highlights the many layers and complexity of fast fashion from when we donate it, revealing how over production and over consumption, along with under-regulated disposal practices are polluting ecosystems, usually in low-income countries.
"Australians are avid consumers of fast fashion but there is a high cost to the environment and to our neighbours," Dr Ferrero-Regis said.
"We buy 55 items of clothing each year on average, which equates to 27kg, and dispose of 23kg a year per capita. It is unsustainable."
Good Neighbours directs the viewers' gaze to neighbouring countries that receive up to 300 bales of used clothing a month, and each bale can weigh between 50 and 500 kgs. Australia exports 2.57% of its used clothing to the Solomons Islands, whereas 88% of clothing imported in the Island comes from Australia.
"While 2.57% may seems a small percentage but it becomes overwhelming in the Solomon Islands. It's clear that Australia has a big responsibility and it starts with the individual," Dr Mellick said.
"Most people don't think about what happens to their clothes after they donate them, but those garments continue their journey, and that journey affects real people and real environments."
The film includes intimate interviews with shopkeepers and showcases the scale of waste, but also the human stories that emerge from it, uncovering a story of resilience.
"There is a focus on women entrepreneurs who rely on this secondhand trade to advance their children's education. Often, they are the bread winners in their families," Professor Ferrero-Regis said.
Dr Hart said the issue was complicated.
"We can see these clothes become devastating local waste. Low-income countries, like the Solomons Islands and other Pacific Islands need help to establish local infrastructures that help them to alleviate the burden of our waste," Dr Hart said.
"Ideally, this film can serve as both a wake-up call and a call to action, urging viewers to rethink their relationship with fashion and consumption. We must share responsibility; we must be good neighbours."
Dr Ferrero-Regis said the research project was a collaboration with Reverend Dr. Ben Wate, Head of the School of Humanities at the Solomons Islands National University, and community leader in Honiara.
The project was supported by the Faculty Strategic Project Support Scheme of the Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, the QUT Centre for Environment and Society, and the QUT Centre for Justice.
The research team now plan to enter Good Neighbours in a range of film festivals and are seeking a platform for distribution. Viewing of the film is available on request.
Main image: Dr Zoe Mellick, Associate Professor Phoebe Hart and Associate Professor Tiziana Ferrero-Regis
