What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
theatlantic.com
What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
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Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#2All the countries I've lived in during my life (4) have had various types of "boxes" on the street where you can dump clothes, which subsequently gets donated to various organizations that handles giving clothes to people in need.
Since I've found this in every country I've lived, I thought this was ubiquitous in the modern world. Am I maybe blinded by my experience here?
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#3I presume polyester or blends could be disposed of via pyrolysis and converted back into oil. Or simply burned for energy.
Interestingly, H&M has collected 140,000 tonnes of textiles through an in-store recycling program so far, and they upcycle but also work with a company called Renewcell to generate new fibers from cotton waste. I'm not sure what they do with the rest of the bulk textile but I presume it's burned or maybe just goes to landfill.
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#4All the countries I've lived in during my life (4) have had various types of "boxes" on the street where you can dump clothes, which subsequently gets donated to various organizations that handles giving clothes to people in need. Since I've found this in every country I've lived, I thought this was ubiquitous in the modern world. Am I maybe blinded by my experience here?
In my country, those boxes go to discount stores operated by these charities which really aren't that cheap. A lot gets discarded, I've heard, because it's not presentable for purchasing. It's a bit sad, hopefully yours are better.
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#5I wear old clothes when doing yard work or woodworking or metalworking --- by the time I'm done, they're only suited to be cut up for rags, and I have a jar which I clip the buttons into --- if a zipper is YKK and still in good condition I'll cut around it in case I need to replace a zipper on something.
I've tried to convince my wife to take up quilting, but she has zero interest, and I don't have the time.
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#6All the countries I've lived in during my life (4) have had various types of "boxes" on the street where you can dump clothes, which subsequently gets donated to various organizations that handles giving clothes to people in need. Since I've found this in every country I've lived, I thought this was ubiquitous in the modern world. Am I maybe blinded by my experience here?
These shops are having a hard time selecting whats sell-able. People dump everything there thinking it is waste.
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#7All the countries I've lived in during my life (4) have had various types of "boxes" on the street where you can dump clothes, which subsequently gets donated to various organizations that handles giving clothes to people in need. Since I've found this in every country I've lived, I thought this was ubiquitous in the modern world. Am I maybe blinded by my experience here?
There are many such boxes around here. Almost all of them are operated by for-profit cults.
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#8There are some companies that will give you store credits to have your clothes "respun." That to me seems like the best thing.
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#9AI quilt making vending machine. I don't know what I would do with all the quilts, But I like the idea that all my well worn, too shitty to donate fabrics are neatly folded somewhere. Maybe bed sheets as well?
Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?
#10A Lot of clothing donation bins are for profit companies that sell the clothing for furniture stuffing.
Check out “Clothing Poverty” about the horrible problem the clothing donation industry has been.
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/clothing-poverty-the-hidden-wo...
Also great episode of Tiny Spark on clothing donation waste.
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/clothing-poverty-andrew-brook...