What happens to our old clothes

I just came upon this:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video.....87916.html

Apparently there is a war in Canada over our used clothes. Companies collecting the clothes from street donation bins are into an apparently extremely lucrative and dangerous business. Drivers are paid by the pound they collect and making . $200,000 a year. They are at war with one another, fiercely protecting their "territory", ordered by those companies to resort to violence in order to protect their routes. Very little of the proceeds from these used clothes is actually reaching a charity if any. Most of it is sold back in Africa ("more than 174 million $ worth of clothes was shipped overseas last year"), and the intermediary pocket the profits.

Repugnant.

Like what clothes ARE indeed an expensive commodity (and most of that money comes out of women's pockets). At least if that money was re-used into charity, but no!

So what to do?

Suggestions?

Here is mine for the moment:

1) Make an oath to force myself to take the time to sell whatever I can to second had shops;

2) Find women's shelters and give directly to them (but still, who knows what they might do... at least there is a chance some of that clothes reaches another in need, and not a pocket in greed!)

3) Well, Salvation Army.

I wonder what the situation is in the US and other developed countries.

12 years ago

rute

Veteran

I give mine to a family I know, both parents are unemployed and they have 4 girls!

Anonymous

I donate my used clothing to a local Christian charity organization. There are red bins all over the county where I live, where you can drop off used clothing. The problem is that the clothing that is dropped off in those bins goes out of state to God only knows where. They ran an article in the newspaper about it. The clothing is not given away to needy people. It is sold. I don't give my clothing away only for others to profit from it. I expect my clothing to be given to those less fortunate than I. Bottom line is that it's best to know where your stuff goes and what is done with it.

ButterflyLady

(website)

In the UK we have shops run by charities, who use the profit they make on selling other people's used clothes, accessories, books etc (pretty much everything except underwear!) for their charity work. I always try to donate things directly to those shops.

I always go straight to the door of Goodwill or other thrift stores in person.

Suz

Krish, I have had this worry, too. A SA at Cassis told me not to take my clothes to Value Village for that reason. By extension, I wonder if I should shop there, too...I don't buy very much from them but I do have a few items.

My daughter's used clothes all go to a good friend of mine who has a younger daughter.

Mine went to the Diabetes society and a couple of other charities that come directly to my door. But for all I know, they are part of the same racket. I will have to read the article.

More recently I have been taking them to my consignment store...not for the money, but because all clothes that are not sold there go directly to women in a local shelter. And the proceeds from sales go partly to the shelter as well.

Thank you for this link; we need to be conscious of the ethical dimensions of fashion. Not just how and where it is made and under what conditions, but also what is happening after we buy it.

Nakidra

I give the kids clothes to people I know can use them. I give my clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army. I don't know anyone who just "throws away" good clothes.

HelenInCanada

I go directly to Salvation Army and Goodwill and drop my donations inside the store - in their Donation Bin during business hours. Guarantees it will be sold in-store (or within the chain), for the right purpose. And no, I've never bought back my own things! (That happened ONCE, with a Mexx top, when I went through a style crisis and later realized I shouldn't do donate-piles when feeling frustrated and cranky.) LOL to that.

I also send what I can to relatives living in the Philippines.

lyn*

I am donating to the Main Street Project (centre for homeless individuals) and to the psychiatry department in my hospital where they have a clothing depot.

They're in need of runners though; I have no runners

modgrl

Wow this is eye opening. Thank you for sharing. I donate my clothes to an organization that sells them to raise money for local food distribution, but I have dropped off clothes at those boxes when I can't get to the place in time and I want the stuff out of my house.

chewyspaghetti

I'm not a fan of the Salvation Army because of their religious affiliation, but having a child with special needs (and a sister who used to do job training for the company), I feel good donating to Goodwill. Their programs help people with disabilities find employment- and that is a cause I can support. I always knew those bins for used clothing were no good!

krishnidoux

Thanks ladies for your input!
I see some of you already have good strategies in place.

Here we think we are donating, making someone else happier and discover we are only making a crook richer and are being taken advantage of.

There is a whole hidden underground industry thriving on our discarded pieces and closet orphans.

In a dream of mine, we find a way to reclaim all this capital and re-invest it in a cause that will help us be better off in our society now. Subsidised or free day care for example. Or funds for research on women's health issues.

OkOk... But one can dream, no?

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jayne

In Norway, the salvation army has donate boxes at most grocery store parking lots, and my stuff goes there. I once donated a religious toy and saw it being used at the local chidcare center run by the SA. Thought that was touching actually.

Lisa

I am not a fan of leaving donate items in drop bins. I go directly to the local Goodwill or Salvation Army, whichever is closer to me at the time I am ready to donate. Sometimes I donate to friends too.

Transcona Shannon

Sickening. I shop at Value Village but after reading this and seeing Suz's comment, I wonder if I want to continue to do that.

Suz - I hate to tell you but in Canada, door-to-door collections for the Diabetes Society are then dropped off at Value Village for re-sale. Value Village pays the Diabetes a certain percentage back as part of the charity.

Here in Winnipeg, Salvation Army has removed most/if not all of its outdoor bins for 24-hour drop offs due to theft - people were actually breaking into the outdoor bins and stealing stuff out of it. You now have to drop off at the actual SA store.

During this recent closet purge I donated all of my unwanted items directly to a battered women's centre. They assured me that the clothing goes directly to the women at the shelter as they need clothing since they have often had to leave their home without taking anything with them and then have to try and re-enter the work force.

Isis

In the big scheme of things, it is not so bad that Savers/Value Village is a for-profit thrift. They do give only a small percentage to charity, true. BUT, buying clothing from Savers or any second-hand store keeps clothing from the landfill, does not support sweat-shop factories, and also employs the people who work there. Same with consignment stores.

I will continue to shop there as they have the best thrifts in my area (I also look at S. Army and Goodwill and independents).

When I donate, I give directly to independent charities and Goodwill where the $ goes to charity.....

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