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Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

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Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#71

Post by dylan604 »

gambiting wrote: post #53

We run a processing company for second hand clothing in Poland(as well as our own shops), and while I can't comment on exports to Africa or elsewhere, that's definitely not the case for us. Primarly because we try to make use of absolutely everything we import, but also because few years back certain legislations were introduced that basically prevent companies like ours from producing large amounts of waste, with dr…

>why would anyone "donate" these is a different matter

This is a very big question though. WTF are people thinking? There's a difference between no longer wearing something because it no longer fits but is otherwise in good condition to not being used because it's completely ruined. What mental block exists in the original owner from just throwing away the ruined items vs just holding onto them to donate so someone else can throw it away? Do they actually feel like some good is coming from donating worthless items? I honestly just do understand this.

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#72

Post by Scoundreller »

retSava wrote: post #50
francisofascii wrote: post #33

Any tips on extending the life of our clothes? I love new t-shirts, but they seem to wear down quickly. Maybe there is a way to wash them and get the sweat smell out without wearing down the shirt. I always use cold water, and only wash/dry when necessary. I heard washer agitation is a problem.

Washing clothes do wear them a lot, so if you can avoid washing clothes too often that'll help. Socks, undergarments, and (most often) t-shirts I don't do this with, but everything else like shirts or pants, do hang them nicely across the back of a chair so that they can air properly. Avoid wrinkles when hanging them. I'm about to buy new bed sheets etc, and the advice I've read is as follows: * satin is nice and sof…

Unless my clothes as super dirty, I’ll wash in cold water with a fraction of the recommended amount of detergent.

And ++ to air drying. Hot temperatures + tumbling creates a ton of wear.

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#73

Post by gambiting »

dylan604 wrote: post #71
gambiting wrote: post #53

We run a processing company for second hand clothing in Poland(as well as our own shops), and while I can't comment on exports to Africa or elsewhere, that's definitely not the case for us. Primarly because we try to make use of absolutely everything we import, but also because few years back certain legislations were introduced that basically prevent companies like ours from producing large amounts of waste, with dr…

>why would anyone "donate" these is a different matter This is a very big question though. WTF are people thinking? There's a difference between no longer wearing something because it no longer fits but is otherwise in good condition to not being used because it's completely ruined. What mental block exists in the original owner from just throwing away the ruined items vs just holding onto them to donate so someone e…

>>Do they actually feel like some good is coming from donating worthless items?

Unfortunately, I believe people are encouraged to donate everything no matter the state, because importers like us pay per kg, so a charity that we buy from will get money for those dirty destroyed shoes, even though they do actually go to landfill on the other end. In a way charities don't really care what's in the bags, the heavier the better. That's why recently it's actually a bit more popular to import from Cash4Clothes charities, as they at the very least have a cursory glance through the goods, so you rarely get actual pure rubbish in there. It has other downsides though.

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#75

Post by mc32 »

telchar wrote: post #67
mc32 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand commercial shipping produces more hydrocarbon pollution than personal transport. Apparently the pollution from one large container ship produces as much pollution as 50MM cars!

That's a factoid that has been going around, but lost some information as you stated it. Large container ships produce tremendous amounts of NOx and SOx pollution compared to passenger cars, true, but CO2 is a different story. Still a lot probably but not anywhere near as much as 50MM cars per ship. Unfortunately I think some hear that factoid and take away from it that cars don't actually contribute to climate chang…

Agreed. The pollution is different but it’s dirty pollution non the less. So I think it’s misleading to have people believe container ships are a “free ride”.

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#76

Post by dylan604 »

telchar wrote: post #67
mc32 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand commercial shipping produces more hydrocarbon pollution than personal transport. Apparently the pollution from one large container ship produces as much pollution as 50MM cars!

That's a factoid that has been going around, but lost some information as you stated it. Large container ships produce tremendous amounts of NOx and SOx pollution compared to passenger cars, true, but CO2 is a different story. Still a lot probably but not anywhere near as much as 50MM cars per ship. Unfortunately I think some hear that factoid and take away from it that cars don't actually contribute to climate chang…

>take away from it that cars don't actually contribute to climate change that much, which is not true.

The time during pandemic lockdown where traffic levels plummeted and how quickly the air cleared pretty much proves that personal auto traffic is huge contributor to bad air quality.

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#77

Post by sumtechguy »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #51
francisofascii wrote: post #33

Any tips on extending the life of our clothes? I love new t-shirts, but they seem to wear down quickly. Maybe there is a way to wash them and get the sweat smell out without wearing down the shirt. I always use cold water, and only wash/dry when necessary. I heard washer agitation is a problem.

How quickly do they seem to wear down? I'm wearing a 15yo t-shirt as I speak and it's in great shape. I have several in closet that are 20yo. I don't take any particular care other than always washing on cold and using low temperature drier. My polo shirts depending on material do seem to wear down, on the collar in particular. They seem to be from different material than most t shirts.

That could be a bit of survivorship bias too. I too have cloths that are 20+ years old. But other stuff from the same era is long gone too.

For me it is one of two things the stitching just comes undone and ends up tearing the fabric. Or the fabric is just threadbare.

I do have to agree though with the quality. It has really dipped in the past 10 or so years I would say. Especially in things I used to consider durable, like jeans. I recently bought a shirt about 3 years ago, elbows blown out stitching coming undone. Not low end cost stuff either...

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#78

Post by jakeinspace »

nitrogen wrote: post #60
jnwatson wrote: post #48

It is articles like this that remind me that we so desperately need a carbon tax. Making a t-shirt in China, shipping to the US, wearing it for a few times, and then shipping it to Africa should not be economically viable.

[commerce] should not be economically viable. Declaring that the cornerstones of modern, industrialized life should not be economically viable is basically calling "game over" and giving up. We can do much better. Climate defeatism should be replaced by climate entrepreneurism. If you don't like something, make something better!

It's only possible to compete as a "climate entrepreneur" if negative externality costs are imposed on existing business (carbon tax or cap & trade).

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#79

Post by KozmoNau7 »

dhosek wrote: post #58
MisterTea wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rags were and still are a useful item in industrial shops as they are stronger than paper towels, don't fall apart, and handle sharp metal edges and rough surfaces. In the old days a "ragman" would come by your shop and buy/sell scrap fabric for rag use. When I was a kid in the 80's I distinctly remember a man pulling up in an old truck and my father buying a few boxes of rags for his machine shop, rummaging through…

Until the late 19th century, paper was more frequently made from rags than wood pulp. The switch to wood pulp was because paper demand outstripped rag supply. Perhaps it's time for a return to increased rag content in paper.

Only if you can get pure natural fibers like cotton. Having synthetic material woven in ruins the fabric for most reuse.

Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill

#80

Post by flavius29663 »

telchar wrote: post #67
mc32 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand commercial shipping produces more hydrocarbon pollution than personal transport. Apparently the pollution from one large container ship produces as much pollution as 50MM cars!

That's a factoid that has been going around, but lost some information as you stated it. Large container ships produce tremendous amounts of NOx and SOx pollution compared to passenger cars, true, but CO2 is a different story. Still a lot probably but not anywhere near as much as 50MM cars per ship. Unfortunately I think some hear that factoid and take away from it that cars don't actually contribute to climate chang…

> cars don't actually contribute to climate change that much, which is not true

I couldn't find some ready numbers, so I tried some estimations.

26% of all energy goes into transportation[1]. Automobiles are about 60% from that, so about 15% of total energy is spent moving automobiles[2].

1 https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/browser/index.php?tbl=T...

2 https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/201...

This does not include land use and agriculture emissions.

Looking at it another way, US has close to 300 million vehicles, and the average automobile emits 4.8 tonnes [3] of CO2 a year. It comes down to 1.5 gigatons of CO2 each year. Total US emissions are about 5 gigatons. This would make it a 30% part of CO2 emissions. It's higher than the number above because that was based on European values of 60% of all transportation emissions coming from automobiles. The US automobiles are bigger and consume more.

3. https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-t...

I think it's safe to say it's somewhere in the ballpark of 15-30% of all CO2 emissions are from automobiles.

I don't consider the manufacturing of the automobiles, because people will need moving regardless. It's either a battery powered car, plane, train etc. Those all need manufacturing and maintaining.

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