Clothes that don't end up in the thrift store .....

The process in India seems to be very different from the process in Africa. Your video is hard to watch Liza. !!! Did you notice they prefer clothes from the UK because the women are smaller. I had heard that those "Planet" boxes were putting textile people out of business in Africa. I haven't come to that part in the video, but I know it's there ......
 
I haven't watched the above yet, though I will, but just wanted to mention this is why I put my worn out clothing into bags for the charity shop, who sell it by the pound to the rag man (who in turn sells it on for the fibre as above) , as opposed to black binning it, where it goes to landfill. That's just the man made fabric clothing, my dad uses the cotton items for mechanic's rags (have to be absorbant)
 
Great links to important films and stories. This has been going on for decades and decades but seems to be just now getting attention from a new generation. That is a good thing.

For decades I have been telling people about this shredding practice. Few ever believed me. It sounded too far fetched.

Back in the mid 1970s, I was a part time worker one summer for well known (at the time) group similar to the Salvation Army that claimed to benefit American Veterans. They would go to neighborhoods and put out flyers letting folks know they would be around on a specific future date to pick up bags of used clothing for "the vets". The flyer gave the distinct impression that all clothing would be going to needy veterans and families of vets. After working there for a few weeks, I discovered that the clothing was not going to any needy person at all. It was being sold directly to the rag trade in New York, for pennies on the pound, who would then export it to some 3rd world country where most of it would be shredded for mattress filler, cheap blankets, etc. I was shocked!!!

It was really sad to open the bags after fetching them from porches in the early mornings. Some had lovely notes attached, like "this was my husband's best winter coat and I hope it keep someone warm". Some had notes with stories about the people who owned the clothing. Or notes telling how they had washed and ironed, or dry cleaned everything, hoping it would be acceptable. Much of the clothing was finest quality, fabulous tailored suits, gowns, evening dresses, cashmere coats, etc. A LOT of it was vintage. And being sold for 1 penny a piece. It was heart breaking.

I then decided to SAVE a lot of great vintage clothing. I struck a deal with them and I was allowed to pick through the clothing in lieu of cash payment for my work. They could care less about old clothing having any value other than its weight. I took piles and piles to my back yard and picked through. I was already very heavy into vintage back then so it was a good deal for me. Can you imagine opening a large bag of vintage 1920s and 1930s lingerie, never worn and with tags still attached? 1940s evening gowns in perfect shape? Tons of great shoes and handbags too. That was a typical day's haul. I finally quit the job after only a few weeks, I felt the practice was upsetting to me for obvious reasons.

The clincher was one morning I went to a door to gather 3 large bags of clothing left in the front of the home. An elderly gentleman came out and offered me some water and told me the story of the clothing. His wife had died a few years before and he could not bring himself to give away her clothing. He told me of her great style and how she had clothing custom made in NY or bought only the best labels. He glowed as he spoke of her clothing and her grace and beauty. He hope the bags of her clothing would bring joy and beauty to a new woman's life. It broke my heart. Of course, I did save every piece of her beautiful clothing and still have some today. Can you imagine it all getting shredded for rags? I still cry when I think of his face. I could not bear to tell him, and vowed to quit the job and do something about this unethical "charity". Yes, they did give a percentage of the profits to veterans, but after costs and "expenses" and salaries to the owners, it was pennies on the trunk load.

I then personally set out to have my community ban these types of collections. People were shocked to find the practice of shredding good clothing was going on all over thew country. It worked and we never had these folks come back. In the late 1990s they tried it again in my town under a new name, and we had had that stopped as well. Grrr!!!!

So when I see this video I want to scream so everyone who puts out bags of clothing to some of these charities knows that it often just gets shredded and not every worn by any human. Not to mention the horrid conditions of some of the workers in these countries.

I know some charities now pick through the clothing for vintage, or some dealers secure the exclusive rights to be the first to pick through. Back then no one cared about vintage clothing very much.

OK, off my soap box. And yes, I feel grateful to have the life style that I do.
 
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It was a great video to watch, Amanda. Thank you for sharing. It was odd to hear them say they have been told it is due to not having enough water to "wash" the clothes, so the westerners simply get rid of them. Also it was amusing to hear her discuss the "sizing" as there was so much extra large sizing...her wondering what westerners could be eating to need clothing that large.

I haven't had the time to watch your link, Liza, I will though.

I'm not surprised at all to hear your story, Barbara. I have heard horror stories for years re the charities and what becomes of the donations.
Glad to hear you were able to salvage some and have your community put an end to these organizations collecting the items.
 
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I volunteer for a thrift shop where proceeds benefit the hospital auxiliary - scholarships for nurses, support patients receiving chemo and radiation, etc.

Every donation is gone over carefully - and those with tears or stains that can not be removed - or just plain totally worn out stuff - it all gets bagged up and goes to the Salvation Army. Barbara - your stories are so sad.
 
After first seeing reports here in Switzerland that clothes from the bi-annual clothes collections here (you get the bags with dates and details on them in your letterbox with your normal mail, and then put them out), and some of the collecting points we have, do not end up where people think they should, I switched to bringing everything to the Caritas shop, which is just a few meters away from my apartment. I regularly find items I donated there or in other Caritas shops across the city. This gives me at least some confidence that my stuff ends up where it was intended to end up.
 
The problem is that there are enormous quantities of second hand clothes and very few of us wear them - and this problem is getting much worse due to the inexpensive price of fashion, which encourages people to wear and throw away. The charity shops are drowning in donations - much of it too poor quality to resell (I've read figures of 40-50%) and they waste their money on rubbish collection because some people seem to use their services as dumps.

Many think the charity shops focus on dressing the poor, but really they raise money for their causes. Many are more expensive than new clothes now - here in Australia they overprice items they perceive as "vintage". My shop, and many others sell vintage for cheaper than charity shops which is bizarre, especially as we pay for our stock, clean and mend it and offer service. One charity shop (we call them op shops, opportunity shops) here sells donated tweed jackets for more than $100. The volunteers aren't necessarily aware of how much the price of clothes has dropped, and still price according to previous values.

Not surprisingly, a lot of their stock isn't sold and new donations arrive daily - so they sell in enormous bags to India for $1 a bag. A lot of the best stock goes to India, I've heard of printed '20s floral dresses and seen '40s wool coats. It's sad. Once I was at an opp shop, a very good and busy one and they pulled out twenty five bags of stock for India - each bag was about eight feet long and three feet wide.

It's an uphill battle. We need more people to look at second hand clothes as a viable alternative, otherwise there will continue to be enormous shipments going to other countries.

I wanted to cry Amanda, watching all those serviceable clothes being ripped on the machine. If it can be worn, it should be worn. Happy for damaged clothing to be destroyed, but not wearable but the quantities are really enormous. It's a big downside of our affluent community.
 
While on my holiday here I have discovered that second hand has finally reached Romania. I love that they don't dress it up - the shops are just called 'Second Hand' and the stock sorted by type of garment. For the most part the stock is almost brand new, usually 90s at the earliest but I found some 50's-80's vintage in the smaller shop on a residential street (they aren't in town, but between the mini-supermarkets and pharmacies) all from Austria/Germany and to my suprise a huge Humana shop inside the Billa supermarket which was full of UK clothing! Ironic, as most of our clothes are made in Romania...
 
It's an uphill battle. We need more people to look at second hand clothes as a viable alternative, otherwise there will continue to be enormous shipments going to other countries.
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Nicole nailed it. I was just looking at a sewing book from 1972. In it there were instructions on how to make 2 new dresses out 3 old ones and directions on how to make short sleeves on a blouse if the elbows are torn. How we have really gotten out of hand.
Sandy
 
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