Clothes Minded Donating
by Lindsay Leno
Donating clothes is the
perfect way to discard old or unwanted items, however the process of how and
who to donate to has an impact that reaches further than the average do-gooder
thinks. Donating unwanted garments and
accessories is a great way to help charities while keeping used goods out of
our landfills. Sometimes people are
unaware that donating to charities that are large and reach global status can
have a lasting, negative impact on developing countries as well as resources
that are used to ship the goods long distances.
To prevent any negative impact all it takes is just a little bit of
research to keep items local so that the effect plays a positive role in your
local community.
Sending garments and accessories
to developing nations seems like a good deed, at first glance. Despite the fact that these countries lag
behind in many respects it is a little known fact that developing nations actually
depend upon their thriving textile business to support their growing
infrastructure. The textile industry
includes the farmers that provide the cotton, the weavers that created fabrics,
the dyers that individualize the fabrics, the markets and merchants that sell
the fabric, as well as the patron that purchases and uses the fabric. Here in the states we only use 15-20% of used
clothing to resell in thrift stores. The remaining used garments are
redistributed with 30% repurposed into industrial rags, 25% become recycled
fibers, and 45% are shipped overseas as garments for reuse. (De Jesus and Kay, 2012). Sending
and shipping thousands of pounds of textile goods to developing nations directly
impacts their textile industry as well as the individuals that rely on it as
their sole livelihood. It plays off the
heartstrings to see a child wearing clothing that has an American sport logo on
it because we believe we’re doing our part to provide for that child’s basic
needs. However, the impact on the nation’s
industry is much more detrimental than we can understand. We could point fingers at how this has played
out, but it is a complex issue and
there are no easy answers. Luckily, there
are a few easy steps we can take on a local level to ensure we are doing our part
both in our community and to help those in need in developing nations.
Donating at a local
level by doing a little bit of research ensures that items are redistributed
within the community for people in need.
This helps people within the local community and prevents negatively impacting
the textile industry in developing countries all while keeping the
environmental impact to a minimum that would otherwise be compromised due to
shipping mass amounts of garments overseas.
Research small, local thrift stores that take donations as well as local
churches and schools that have clothing banks for those in need. Most schools and churches have a system in
place to help their congregants and students. Beyond finding ways to donate goods locally it
may create a dilemma on ways to than best help people in developing countries
to have basic needs such as clothing.
It’s far better to purchase products from their local economy and donate
through an organization within their country than to send our used goods. Purchasing items that are certified Fair
Trade also help people thrive by focusing on exports from
developing countries to developed
countries, most
notably handicrafts, coffee, and cocoa to name a few.
One recommendation for a local organization in Madison
and Janesville is Agrace Thrift Store where their mission is to partner with several area
businesses and organizations to help ensure that saleable donated merchandise
gets back into the community to be used again, rather than ending up in a
landfill. In addition to making sense for the environment, these partnerships
also help support the local economy, making the quality merchandise available
at very thrifty prices.
Also research local churches and schools within your
community to ensure a local effort at helping those in need.
Understanding where
our second hand clothing ultimately is donated to helps us control the
outcome. Giving used goods to a local
charity or church will directly help the local community and economy. Donating clothes to large charities, despite
knowing that a portion is refurbished or recycled, can create a negative impact
on developing nation’s local economies.
By doing a little research we can best make a positive impact in our
local community while understanding that making conscious donations in other
nations will ultimately help those in need in other nations.
And always swap at Upshift to keep it totally local (to Madison) and totally sustainable.
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