The Secret Life of Your Clothes | This World

Duration: 58'51''

Synopsis

Documentary in which Ade Adepitan explores the afterlife of some of the clothes we donate to charity shops. He follows the trail to Ghana, the biggest importer of our castoffs.

Further Information

More clips from This World

A History of Syria with Dan Snow | This World

A History of Syria with Dan Snow | This World

BBC HD | 2013 | 59'15''

Dan Snow travels to Syria to see how the current civil war has been shaped by the country's tumultuous history, unpicking the h...

After Brexit: The Battle for Europe | This World

After Brexit: The Battle for Europe | This World

BBC Two | 2017 | 59'05''

The European Union faces the biggest challenge in its 60-year history, with the rise of populist eurosceptic movements acros...

America's Stoned Kids | This World

America's Stoned Kids | This World

BBC Two | 2013 | 58'57''

Professor John Marsden heads to Colorado, which voted to legalise the recreational use of cannabis in November 2012, to investigate the im...

Average number of babies born per woman | This World

Average number of babies born per woman | This World

BBC Two | 2013 | 2'40''

Using 3D graphics, Hans Rosling demonstrates the change in life expectancy and the average number of babies born per wom...

British colonialism and Kenyan tea | This World

British colonialism and Kenyan tea | This World

BBC Two | 2014 | 5'46''

Simon Reeve investigates the colonial history that has shaped both the landscape and tea trade in Kenya.

Building boom | This World

Building boom | This World

BBC Two | 2014 | 5'46''

An exploration of China's out of control building boom.

Child labour | This World

Child labour | This World

BBC Two | 2014 | 5'03''

Simon Reeves investigates child labour on tea plantations in Uganda.

Child survival | This World

Child survival | This World

BBC Two | 2013 | 3'44''

The impact that better healthcare is having on child survival rates and thus population.

Clothes to Die For | This World

Clothes to Die For | This World

BBC Two | 2014 | 58'47''

Documentary about survivors of the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza, an eight-storey commerical building in Bangladesh, and the safety of the ...

Corruption and the Rana Plaza | This World

Corruption and the Rana Plaza | This World

BBC Two | 2014 | 5'11''

Power and connections allowed Sohel Rana to cut corners with his clothing factory complex, the Rana Plaza.

Cuba with Simon Reeve | This World

Cuba with Simon Reeve | This World

BBC HD | 2012 | 58'58''

Simon Reeve heads to Cuba to find a communist country in the middle of a capitalist revolution and asks if the new economic openness could...

Dan Snow's History of Congo | This World

Dan Snow's History of Congo | This World

BBC Two | 2013 | 59'15''

Dan Snow travels to Congo to reveal how its troubled history has turned one of the world's potentially richest countries into one of...

Development in Mozambique | This World

Development in Mozambique | This World

BBC Two | 2013 | 13'30''

How life in Mozambique has changed in the last 30 years, in both urban and rural areas.

Don't Panic - The Truth About Population | This World

Don't Panic - The Truth About Population | This World

BBC Two | 2013 | 59'22''

Statistician Professor Hans Rosling presents a spectacular portrait of our rapidly changing world, showing how the prob...

Economy and employment in the new city | This World

Economy and employment in the new city | This World

BBC Two | 2012 | 2'19''

How the economy is developing in the new city and supplying new job opportunities.

Education | This World

Education | This World

BBC Two | 2013 | 2'04''

The important role that education is playing in reducing population.

Eviction | This World

Eviction | This World

BBC Two | 2017 | 4'20''

The process of evicting migrants from the Calais Jungle.

Exploitation on tea plantations | This World

Exploitation on tea plantations | This World

BBC Two | 2014 | 6'46''

Simon Reeve visits a Unilever tea plantation and talks to labourers about the exploitative conditions they work under.

Food and supplies | This World

Food and supplies | This World

BBC Two | 2017 | 2'47''

Food and supplies given to migrants arriving at the Calais Jungle.

Impact of the new city | This World

Impact of the new city | This World

BBC Two | 2012 | 3'49''

How the new city has impacted different families from White Horse village.

More resources about Resources and Energy

Fashion's Dirty Secrets | Stacey Dooley

Fashion's Dirty Secrets | Stacey Dooley

BBC Three | 2018 | 57'57''

Stacey Dooley uncovers the shocking environmental impact caused by an insatiable appetite for cheap clothing.

03: Food, Fire and Water | Supersized Earth

03: Food, Fire and Water | Supersized Earth

BBC One | 2012 | 59'13''

Dallas Campbell examines what it takes to keep seven billion humans alive with food, energy and water.

Amazon deforestation | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

Amazon deforestation | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

BBC One | 2019 | 4'21''

Liz Bonnin witnesses the devastation of the Amazon rainforest from the sky.

Episode 1 | Hugh's War on Waste

Episode 1 | Hugh's War on Waste

BBC One | 2015 | 58'04''

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wants to find out why the UK wastes so much food. He challenges supermarkets to drastically reduce the amount of ...

Fracking: The New Energy Rush | Horizon

Fracking: The New Energy Rush | Horizon

BBC Two | 2013 | 57'58''

Iain Stewart investigates a controversial energy rush for the natural gas found deep underground, sometimes right under the places pe...

Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

BBC One | 2019 | 57'43''

From colossal farms in America to the destruction of the Amazon, Liz Bonnin investigates how our hunger for meat is killing our planet.

Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

Episode 1 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

BBC Four | 2017 | 59'16''

From the moment we first drilled for oil, we opened a Pandora's box that changed the world forever. It transfor...

Episode 2 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

Episode 2 | Planet Oil: The Treasure That Conquered The World

BBC Two | 2015 | 59'02''

Professor Iain Stewart looks back at the 1950s, a time when the oil and gas fields of the Middle East became a ...

Episode 1 | Future of Food

Episode 1 | Future of Food

BBC Two | 2009 | 58'58''

George Alagiah travels the world to reveal a growing global food crisis. He investigates population growth, climate change, water shortages and wh...

04: Wind | Powering Britain

04: Wind | Powering Britain

BBC One | 2020 | 28'55''

Keeley Donovan heads 75 miles off the Yorkshire coast to see the building of Hornsea One, which is currently the world's biggest offshore windfarm.

Energy | Bang Goes The Theory

Energy | Bang Goes The Theory

BBC One | 2014 | 28'58''

Jem Stansfield, Liz Bonnin and Maggie Philbin investigate how close Britain might get to running out of electricity.

Fracking | The One Show

Fracking | The One Show

BBC One | 2025 | 4'43''

The One Show visits a village in Yorkshire where the townsfolk have protested fracking in their local area, but have come up with a solution.

03: Laying the Foundations | Building the Olympic Dream

03: Laying the Foundations | Building the Olympic Dream

BBC Two | 2009 | 58'23''

With nine billion pounds to spend on creating an Olympic Park, London 2012's bosses face some big challenges.

Episode 2 | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

Episode 2 | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2025 | 59'07''

The second leg of Simon's journey takes him from the stunning fjords of Norway to Iceland - the original land of fire and ice.

Fruit and Veg | What Britain Buys and Sells in a Day

Fruit and Veg | What Britain Buys and Sells in a Day

BBC Two | 2019 | 59'03''

Ed Balls, Ade Adepitan and Cherry Healey delve into the hectic world of Britain's imports and exports. Ed is at London G...

01: Biomass | Powering Britain

01: Biomass | Powering Britain

BBC One | 2020 | 28'55''

Keeley Donovan takes a behind-the-scenes look at Drax near Selby, which is Britain's biggest power station.

04: Canada | Arctic with Bruce Parry

04: Canada | Arctic with Bruce Parry

BBC Two | 2011 | 59'39''

Bruce travels to the far north of Canada to live with the Caribou people and witness their annual spring hunt. He then heads south to th...

Crop to Shop: Jimmy's Supermarket Secrets

Crop to Shop: Jimmy's Supermarket Secrets

BBC One | 2010 | 58'57''

Jimmy Doherty explores the global logistics that bring fresh food from around the world to a shop near you, and uncovers the scienc...

Food choices and carbon footprint | Horizon

Food choices and carbon footprint | Horizon

BBC Two | 2021 | 3'15''

Hannah and Mike detail how environmental scientists calculate a food produces carbon footprint.

Animal feed production | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

Animal feed production | Meat: A Threat to Our Planet?

BBC One | 2019 | 4'50''

Liz Bonnin explores the impact that animal feed production is having on insect biodiversity.

More from Ade Adepitan

Restoring Our Rivers | Our Changing Planet

Restoring Our Rivers | Our Changing Planet

BBC One | 2025 | 58'20''

Liz Bonnin and Ade Adepitan investigate two ambitious river restoration projects: in the US, the largest dam removal in the world,...

01: The Solomon Islands and Australia | Climate Change: Ade on the Frontline

01: The Solomon Islands and Australia | Climate Change: Ade on the Frontline

BBC Two | 2021 | 58'53''

Ade Adepitan sees the damage that climate change is causing, and finds out how we can fight it -...

Sustainable tourism in Dubai | The Travel Show

Sustainable tourism in Dubai | The Travel Show

BBC World News | 2020 | 5'18''

Ade Adepitan explores Sustainable City, an almost completely self-sufficient suburb that uses solar and grows its own food.

Britain's picky fruit and vegetables preferences | What Britain Buys and Sells in a Day

Britain's picky fruit and vegetables preferences | What Britain Buys and Sells in a Day

BBC Two | 2019 | 2'08''

Ed finds out why Britons are so picky with their food and how this affects where out ...

Episode 2 | Africa with Ade Adepitan

Episode 2 | Africa with Ade Adepitan

BBC Two | 2019 | 59'04''

Ade Adepitan embarks on the second leg of his journey around Africa. This time he is in Central Africa, travelling from Gabon to Uganda,...

South China Sea Trade | World's Busiest Cities

South China Sea Trade | World's Busiest Cities

BBC Two | 2017 | 3'03''

Hong Kong's busy port is a vital gateway to trade in the South China Sea.

Episode 1 | New York: America's Busiest City

Episode 1 | New York: America's Busiest City

BBC Two | 2016 | 59'04''

Anita Rani, Ade Adepitan, Ant Anstead and Dan Snow try commuting New York-style, joining 5.5 million commuters on the iconic Sta...

Ade Adepitan, Paralympic Champion | Spark

Ade Adepitan, Paralympic Champion | Spark

BBC Two | 2012 | 4'34''

Ade Adepitan, a Paralympian volleyball champion, could not use his legs, but he never lost his determination to make it as an athlete.