Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

abc.net.au

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 223 posts

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

#201

Post by ZeroGravitas »

jbc1 wrote: post #195
handrous wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, it's just that not that long ago, it was economically feasible, so it's not like it's some kind of unattainable fantasy. A couple laws, and a 5-10% hike on the costs of drinks distributed in bottles (thanks to the added costs of handling & recycling glass), and we'd be back there. It's something we definitely could do. But yes, right now the main glass recycler in our area just crushes everything up and turns i…

Cheaper is often because something was easier to make. Less materials and less energy. That's certainly the case on a one plastic bottle to one glass bottle ratio, but I wonder just how energy efficient is making that bottle over the glass one? Twice? Ten times? A hundred? Then how many times will a glass bottle get reused on average? What sort of resources are used in the process of bringing them back and cleaning t…

Its a popular misconception that recycling and climate change are in opposition. Landfills are the biggest producers of greenhouse gasses after electricity generation, transport and agriculture.

The reduced carbon impact is one of the reasons to recycle, but your not the first person on HN that I've seen claim exactly the opposite.

(Of note, burning the trash and using the energy produced is also better for climate change than landfill).

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

#202

Post by jbc1 »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #201
jbc1 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheaper is often because something was easier to make. Less materials and less energy. That's certainly the case on a one plastic bottle to one glass bottle ratio, but I wonder just how energy efficient is making that bottle over the glass one? Twice? Ten times? A hundred? Then how many times will a glass bottle get reused on average? What sort of resources are used in the process of bringing them back and cleaning t…

Its a popular misconception that recycling and climate change are in opposition. Landfills are the biggest producers of greenhouse gasses after electricity generation, transport and agriculture. The reduced carbon impact is one of the reasons to recycle, but your not the first person on HN that I've seen claim exactly the opposite. (Of note, burning the trash and using the energy produced is also better for climate c…

Is it the plastic in landfills causing the greenhouse gases?

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

#203

Post by dpeck »

valarauko wrote: post #125
dpeck wrote: post #40

Sample size of just me, but I’ve done some volunteering before and the amount of clothes that people donate is huge. But the chance of people in need actually wearing what was donated was small. The guidance that my group was given was essentially, if it couldn’t be worn to a job interview or a religious service (think men’s chinos and a button up shirt, women nicer pants/skirt and good quality blouse), then throw it…

I think the disconnect here is between the expectations of the donors of who the end users are, and their needs. I would have expected that donated clothes would end up with the homeless, who at least here (NYC) have a need for layers. I would not have expected donated clothes to have resale value, and to merely be functional. The idea that donated clothes should be job interview quality is new to me, and I guess pro…

Right.

I think you’re correct in very different market expectations. People effected by homelessness would be more interested in layers for protection from weather and I guess wouldn’t care much for how something looks so long as it’s clean/functional.

But the vast majority of people shopping at thrift stores or accepting donations and similar aren’t homeless, they’re just people without much money. They probably have plenty of old tshirts and jeans but might not easily have the money for a pair of khakis and an oxford shirt to wear to an interview for a new job as a retail clerk or cashier, or maybe receptionist at a business.

I would assume that the latter are, thankfully, more common than the former. In most cities.

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

#204

Post by ZeroGravitas »

jbc1 wrote: post #202
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a popular misconception that recycling and climate change are in opposition. Landfills are the biggest producers of greenhouse gasses after electricity generation, transport and agriculture. The reduced carbon impact is one of the reasons to recycle, but your not the first person on HN that I've seen claim exactly the opposite. (Of note, burning the trash and using the energy produced is also better for climate c…

Is it the plastic in landfills causing the greenhouse gases?

Probably mostly rotting food and other organic matter, maybe some fridges and other chemicals. But once you start recycling one thing, it makes it easier to recycle others as they share infrastructure.

But recycling plastic specifically uses less energy which in turn saves carbon.

Even burning the plastic as fuel is regularly cited by life cycle analyses as less carbon intensive than landfilling it and creating totally new plastic to replace it.

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

#205

Post by smsm42 »

X6S1x6Okd1st wrote: post #166
jeromegv wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, I asked people to do the same recently at a party. They were entirely shocked. It's like realizing that your disposable cutlery and plates are actually waste and seeing it going into the actual trash makes them realize how wasteful it is. Recycle (or charity giving of clothes) is such a "guilt free" behaviour, feeling like you do something good for no efforts, so I'm not surprised people would do it even when it…

Depressingly that was the point of recycling in the US https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-...

Penn & Teller said it in 2004: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0771119/

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

#206

Post by legerdemain »

pmyteh wrote: post #194
legerdemain wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reusable glass bottles also mean that you either bring the exact bottle to the exact retailer to get refilled with the exact product, or brands lose the ability to use the container for advertising and brand identity. Even the frou-frou dairies that let you bring in their reusable bottles only want you to bring back their reusable bottles with their stenciled logos on them.

In the UK there is (still, in some places) milk delivery to the doorstep in 1 pint bottles. These are all a standard size, and they're all branded by the dairy. But interestingly the dairies are perfectly happy to use another company's bottles if they end up with them - branding be damned. When I lived in a place with only one delivering dairy, this was quite rare. In Liverpool, I'd say that 10% of the bottles I get…

In the US, I quickly accumulate 3-4 Stanpac glass bottles that are almost entirely identical, except for the indelible sintered labeling, and then I get behind on taking the right one to the right store and throw them out.

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

#208

Post by int_19h »

legerdemain wrote: post #192
mumblemumble wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another challenge with bringing back reusable glass bottles is that that approach belonged to an era with more local brands and a smaller variety of products. There were a few brands of soft drink that were all being mixed and bottled at local distributors, and cities had their own breweries that mostly only distributed locally. Now that we have enough different brands of soda and beer to cover three sides of a conve…

Reusable glass bottles also mean that you either bring the exact bottle to the exact retailer to get refilled with the exact product, or brands lose the ability to use the container for advertising and brand identity. Even the frou-frou dairies that let you bring in their reusable bottles only want you to bring back their reusable bottles with their stenciled logos on them.

Which is something that could be solved by regulation mandating standard bottle shapes. Environment is more important than "brand identity".

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

#209

Post by int_19h »

tablespoon wrote: post #141
JamesSwift wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For myself, I tend to be in the "let the professionals decide what to scrap" camp. If the alternative is that I throw it in the garbage, what is the net loss by letting the workers who do this all day long decide what should be thrown in the garbage? As the OP says, they have various uses for items, so it makes sense to let them handle the sorting through of junk to decide what is ultimately landfill material. Sure,…

> If the alternative is that I throw it in the garbage, what is the net loss by letting the workers who do this all day long decide what should be thrown in the garbage? Because a lot of the organizations that take donated items are charities, and disposing of your garbage costs them money that they then cannot use to do good. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/06/993821945/goodwill-doesnt-wan... It's the same thing with re…

Personally, I would happily pay more for someone to come and take away my maybe-garbage and maybe-recycling, and sort through it. If the issue is purely economic - that there's a very real cost that's not accounted for - let's just make it explicit.

FWIW I think the reason why it's not that way already for recycling is to encourage people to recycle when they can. But it's clear that, at this point, the processing issue is more important than that. Then those who recycle because they want to feel good about it, can pay for the privilege. And same for donations.

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

#210

Post by int_19h »

rascul wrote: post #22
skinkestek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

10 years ago or so I saw plastic wapped bundles of shredded cottonwear in the shelves at a mechanic shop I frequented at the time so some of it clearly has taken that path.

I've found that old clothes can often make excellent rags for when I'm working on vehicles or staining a wood project.

This is common knowledge in developing countries (and, I suspect, used to be in developed ones a few decades ago). Growing up, the usual lifecycle of a garment was wear -> rag -> trash.
Post reply on HN