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Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

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Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#141

Post by wccrawford »

8589934591 wrote: post #137

I have started buying clothes from USA _because_ they are of higher quality. Even though they are made in my India, they are usually not available for sale here. The quality and variety available for exports is drastically different from what is available for the local market. Mine have lasted at least 2-3 years before I buy a new set of clothes. I wonder why there is a huge churn in USA to keep buying new clothes. I…

I'm an American that doesn't buy new clothes often, but I want to provide my view. My clothes last a lot longer than 2-3 years. To get to the point that they're ragged or faded takes a long time for most of them. (The very cheapest t-shirts from online sites are the exception. I don't buy those any more.)

On the other hand, my wife gets great pleasure from getting new clothing. She has a lot more than I do, and still she buys more. She is genuinely excited about wearing and showing off the new clothes she bought. When she gets a compliment about them, she is very, very happy.

Strangers aren't likely to give those compliments, and friends aren't going to compliment the same clothes again. To get those feelings, she needs new clothes.

All that said, she doesn't buy as many clothes as many of the vapid women/girls that I've met over the years. She's responsible with her money and doesn't buy excessively. But watching her emotions about the ones she does buy informs me a lot about the less responsible women out there.

I don't know any men like that, but I have seen them on TV (especially "reality" shows), so I'm sure they exist, too.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#142

Post by pasabagi »

8589934591 wrote: post #137

I have started buying clothes from USA _because_ they are of higher quality. Even though they are made in my India, they are usually not available for sale here. The quality and variety available for exports is drastically different from what is available for the local market. Mine have lasted at least 2-3 years before I buy a new set of clothes. I wonder why there is a huge churn in USA to keep buying new clothes. I…

> Is it just more affordable/cheaper to buy than to mend your clothes?

I'm not from the US (EU instead) but mending clothes is almost never cost-effective for me, because it's hard to do well, and would cost more than most garments (either in time, or in paying somebody to do it).

I still sometimes mend my clothes for fun.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#143

Post by willcipriano »

a0-prw wrote: post #113

Donations of clothes from the West can also undermine local clothing industries. This also happened with "cheap" milk powder from the EU to (iirc) Ghana. Ghana was helping to finance the EU's overproduction of milk.

Toms Shoes[0] is the classical example of this. I like the idea of things like Kiva[1] and did 214 loans with them over the years[2] but they have been looking a little sketchy lately. Rather than dumping goods and destroying local businesses I think investment is a better way to improve conditions in developing nations. For example in the US we have farm subsidies that buy up food at above market prices and ship it to struggling nations, but I'd argue it would be much more effective to take those same subsidies and invest in local farmers instead. If you do it right the cost of that program isn't much more than the cost of inflation plus currency differences over the course of the loan.

[0]https://www.vox.com/2015/7/23/9025975/toms-shoes-poverty-giv...

[1]https://www.kiva.org/

[2]https://www.kiva.org/lender/williamcipriano

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#144

Post by rootsudo »

8589934591 wrote: post #137

I have started buying clothes from USA _because_ they are of higher quality. Even though they are made in my India, they are usually not available for sale here. The quality and variety available for exports is drastically different from what is available for the local market. Mine have lasted at least 2-3 years before I buy a new set of clothes. I wonder why there is a huge churn in USA to keep buying new clothes. I…

Depends, buying is cheap, so why not - meanwhile also having so much clothes can be annoying. Easier to get rid of them, then sell them and such.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#145

Post by vasco »

McMiniBurger wrote: post #128
vasco wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fast fashion only opens the door for "fun" to be had be normal people. Rich people going on a buying spree has generally always been a thing.

Quoted post unavailable.

I didn't make it about anything. The only thing fast fashion opens in the way we see it nowadays is for shopping sprees at reduced prices. The direct implication is that it opens up this activity for people with lower purchasing power. This is not some statement about haves and have nots, but I think ignoring this fact is a bit weird. If you make something cheaper, more people are going to do that thing.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#146

Post by MerelyMortal »

zamalek wrote: post #54

I don't give two damns about fashion, but I would like good long-lasting clothing. Any suggestions on where I can find that (once my current stock wears out)?

I wear Carhartt clothes daily after I remove their branding logos with a razor blade.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#147

Post by Invictus0 »

_trampeltier wrote: post #117
x3iv130f wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I buy mostly luxury brands however there are quite a few tricks with it. Buying luxury off the rack at a well known store is almost always a bad financial decision. I stick primarily to lesser known brands that still maintain good quality. I almost always buy used with just a few exceptions. For some reason it is hard for me to find good pants used or with any sort of discount.

Good pants for men are still not invented yet ..

Two words: Japanese Denim

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#148

Post by soneca »

willcipriano wrote: post #143
a0-prw wrote: post #113

Donations of clothes from the West can also undermine local clothing industries. This also happened with "cheap" milk powder from the EU to (iirc) Ghana. Ghana was helping to finance the EU's overproduction of milk.

Toms Shoes[0] is the classical example of this. I like the idea of things like Kiva[1] and did 214 loans with them over the years[2] but they have been looking a little sketchy lately. Rather than dumping goods and destroying local businesses I think investment is a better way to improve conditions in developing nations. For example in the US we have farm subsidies that buy up food at above market prices and ship it…

What do you think is sketchy about Kiva lately?

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#149

Post by telesilla »

wccrawford wrote: post #141
8589934591 wrote: post #137

I have started buying clothes from USA _because_ they are of higher quality. Even though they are made in my India, they are usually not available for sale here. The quality and variety available for exports is drastically different from what is available for the local market. Mine have lasted at least 2-3 years before I buy a new set of clothes. I wonder why there is a huge churn in USA to keep buying new clothes. I…

I'm an American that doesn't buy new clothes often, but I want to provide my view. My clothes last a lot longer than 2-3 years. To get to the point that they're ragged or faded takes a long time for most of them. (The very cheapest t-shirts from online sites are the exception. I don't buy those any more.) On the other hand, my wife gets great pleasure from getting new clothing. She has a lot more than I do, and still…

In case she is open to discussing this, it's a fairly common problem. It can be resolved by finding another source of praise, for example volunteer work or teaching, or exceeding in extra activities in her field. She is not needing new clothes but attention, and there are healthy ways to achieve that. Experience: my own (as a woman) and various friends over the years.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#150

Post by friedturkey »

hilbert42 wrote: post #40
dillondoyle wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of the super cheap stuff from Shein is so utter shit quality it won't last more than a few wears. And it's almost all plastic. I can't stand synthetic fabrics I feel like if people were exposed to real materials they would learn it feels better and last longer. And is fashionable. Real wool, nice cotton, silk. It lasts a long time if it's constructed & woven well. I don't know if it's actually better in terms o…

"A lot of the super cheap stuff from Shein is so utter shit quality it won't last more than a few wears." Then why do people buy the stuff? I just do not understand their mentality. I buy good clothes to last. Let me give an example, I have a number of pairs of BD-like dungarees which I bought brand new several decades ago (they're not ex military but a high quality clone thereof). These are my knockabout do-anything…

I'll try to say this in a polite way, but if you're presenting dungarees as an example of a good purchase, explaining fashion simply isn't possible. It's like trying to explain to a typical old woman born and raised in rural Belarus the value of a a fine set of chopsticks, or a Mormon the value of a fine coffee grinder. Your reason for buying clothes is completely fine--but it's not at all what motivates people who partake in this problem.

For younger people, fashion is a way to show off to people or be comfortable in various situations. It's much easier to spend $150 on a set of new clothes to try impressing a date than it is to try impressing someone with your car like people may've tried decades ago. And trends change often these days, so people change their clothes often as well.

I'm not defending it. I buy one pair of pants and one or two shirts a year. But it's not a thing you're ever going to "logic and reason" people out of.

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