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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

#211

Post by inglor_cz »

HFguy wrote: post #24
deathanatos wrote: post #19

> Today, the average American buys 68 new items of clothing per year. > “You wonder, do people in America have so much money that they can just wear things once and then throw them away?” I uh… I too would like to know. What scares me is that the use of whatever demographic is causing that average has to be way higher than the actual average, but this feels like it has to be bimodal. And there are lots of these numbe…

I don’t believe that the average American buys 68 pieces of clothing a year. I’d like them to share the source of that. The author doesn’t offer one that I saw. TBC, I think wearing something 3-4 times and discarding it is horrible.

Where I live, if you enter a random mall, perhaps 1/2 to 2/3rds of the shops sell clothing. And they live somehow and obviously attract enough customers - a cursory look will prove that they aren't empty.

There must be people who buy three or four pieces of clothing every week for years.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#212

Post by rightbyte »

sokoloff wrote: post #164
rightbyte wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or wool. Maybe plastics should just be banned for any cloths but like shoes, jackets and cover pants. That would solve much of the long term waste problem.

Plastic buttons are pretty damn useful.

Buttons can be made in metal (for snapping) or wood (for "sloting").

Zippers can be made in metal (as good and expensive ones are).

Like elastic cloths of any kind are where a plastics ban would hurt. Velcro ...

For most normal cloths I believe there would be no problems.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#213

Post by inglor_cz »

kleiba wrote: post #100

Everything that gets produced eventually lands in a dump. The moral justification for shipping stuff your nation has no use for anymore, i.e. your garbage, off to Africa needs to be discussed. Some of that stuff will find second use, which is good in some ways and bad in other ways, but whether that happens or not, everything that gets shipped to Africa will end up in a dump in Africa sooner or later - unless it gets…

Metal is economic to recycle, so is probably glass. Paper so-so (unless greasy), plastic almost never, cotton neither.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#214

Post by unionpivo »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #191
bryanrasmussen wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Local producers are great, but they're outnumbered ten thousand to one by local consumers. How the world would be any better if some of the world's poorest were forced by their governments to pay extra money to buy inferior clothes, while some small-time politically-connected tycoon profited from it? Employees of local producers are great too, the theory I always hear is that people getting paid in an area stimulate…

> Employees of local producers are great too, the theory I always hear is that people getting paid in an area stimulate more economic activity. So I mean you should take that idea apart more as it is pretty much established wisdom. The "established wisdom" you cite is a long-lived natural propaganda campaign. It begins with politicians, people who succeed or fail based mostly on their image, not on the quality of the…

sure. but at the same time, this is true of pretty much anything in Africa, due to their poor infrastructure.

You have to have local firms (or self employed) making something, and selling that something, so that they can employ local people, and so on.

But it's often cheaper to build/make/farm that something in EU/Asia/Americas and ship it to Africa.

Something has to break this cycle.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#215

Post by gumby »

gruez wrote: post #201
gumby wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s definitely true. I’m basically a T shirt and shorts guy and my son once told me it is a “flex”. I was surprised, and it really opened my eyes.

>It’s definitely true. I’m basically a T shirt and shorts guy and my son once told me it is a “flex”. as opposed to what? having to wear a suit and tie?

Basically any activity-appropriate clothing (per social, not practical, rules). In most cases I can’t be bothered figuring out what clothes to wear. I mean sure, a wedding or a funeral I know, but otherwise? A fancy restaurant? Lawyer meeting? Giving a talk? Who cares?

I go to board meetings in my normal clothes, and with my dog, and until my kid said something it didn’t even occur to me to do otherwise.

I do remember buying a car years ago and my wife commenting, “At home [europe] they wouldn’t even let you in the door”. In the Vally they just want to do business.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#216

Post by [deleted] »

bryanp2021 wrote: post #89
deathanatos wrote: post #19

> Today, the average American buys 68 new items of clothing per year. > “You wonder, do people in America have so much money that they can just wear things once and then throw them away?” I uh… I too would like to know. What scares me is that the use of whatever demographic is causing that average has to be way higher than the actual average, but this feels like it has to be bimodal. And there are lots of these numbe…

I recognized that ecommerce makes life "easier" and can make people shopping addiction. I can tell it's amazon. It's so easy to buy , it's so easy to return thing I don't like, it's so easy to find cheap things... There is a voice inside my mind, "hey you can buy this doesn't cost much and let's save up later." Well I'm not an addiction but that voice actually came up in my mind, and I spent a bulk of $ I can't tell…

[deleted]

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#217

Post by samarama »

_trampeltier wrote: post #116
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.

Also chicken wings. In the EU, nobody wants to eat chicken wings, just the bigger chicken meat parts. So the chicken wings end up for almost free in Africa and also destroyed every chicken farm, because the where more expensive than the chicken from EU.

Ok but then don’t make a chicken farm, there are numerous other animals you can farm and it provides a baseline of food for the poor.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#219

Post by BurningFrog »

esarbe wrote: post #204
BurningFrog wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Affluence is having things. The real affluent don't work at all. The clothing can't both be unwanted and outcompete local manufacturers.

> The clothing can't both be unwanted and outcompete local manufacturers. Of course it can. You can have a vast mountain of worthless fabric that's not wanted by anyone and still have enough usable and useful pieces of clothing besides that to destroy any local manufacturing.

If people buy and wear the clothing it is, by definition, wanted by them.

Re: Many clothing donations end up in African landfills

#220

Post by vidarh »

ejb999 wrote: post #188
vidarh wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile my most recent clothes purchase was 6 identical plain black t-shirts. I'd drive your relatives crazy.

>>Meanwhile my most recent clothes purchase was 6 identical plain black t-shirts. I do slightly better, find a shirt I like, then buy identical set in 5 colors, and I am all set until next years shopping 'spree' of $60 (5x$12)

I do try to use a few more colours, but black is my default "I can't be bothered to think about clothes today" colour... But absolutely for buying identical sets. I'm never ever again just buying one of something when I find something I really like, because I hate shopping for clothes, so whenever I decide I like something I go back and buy several more.
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