Maybe we can look into burning them as fuel as a European country was doing (Sweden?)
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
#32We’re buying 60 per cent more clothes now than we did 15 years ago. This is something I find baffling. I have a clothes closet and a chest of drawers. They comfortably hold more than enough for me to go a week or two without doing laundry. When I've worn too many holes in something for me to patch and use as outdoor work wear it goes in the garbage. That people have such an addiction to buying new clothes they have t…
In high school at one point when discussing the amount of agricultural space goes to cotton, the teacher asked how many pairs of trousers we each had. I had two. I hated going shopping, and two was enough for me to wear one pair while the others were in the wash. A bit on the low end, maybe. I have a few more now, but still mostly cycle 2-3. Several of my class mates claimed to have 40+. I couldn't even imagine that.…
This is true of young children as well. They will notice if someone (another child or adult) cycles through a small set of clothes and comment on it, which can easily be construed as peer pressure.
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#33Any 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.
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#34My local charity/recycling bin for clothes/garment explicitly asks for permanently stained or ripped clothes as these can be used as cloth in factories. I’d be pretty pissed if they just ship it out to the third world and rip off some local business man. I could have thrown it out locally. No need to ship trash to Africa.
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.
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 a few boxes looking for the ones with the larger sheets and heavier material.
At home I have a bag in my basement full of old clothing I use for whatever. I even wash them if they're not covered in something which could foul the washing machine (e.g. automotive grease/oil/fuel).
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#35Maybe we can look into burning them as fuel as a European country was doing (Sweden?)
Denmark I think (and the company was H&M?)
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#36A comparison with the CO2 emissions, to get a sense of the scale of the problem.
>> Globally, that’s the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles being burned or going into landfill every second.
An average garbage truck has a volume of about 20 cubic meters. Textiles are pretty fluffy, their density is about one tenth the density of water [1], so we have about 2 tons of textiles in a garbage truck. If all gets burned, you end up with about 6 tons of CO2 in the atmosphere.
[1] https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-03/documents/co...
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#37We’re buying 60 per cent more clothes now than we did 15 years ago. This is something I find baffling. I have a clothes closet and a chest of drawers. They comfortably hold more than enough for me to go a week or two without doing laundry. When I've worn too many holes in something for me to patch and use as outdoor work wear it goes in the garbage. That people have such an addiction to buying new clothes they have t…
I don't own very many clothes at all. I don't understand fashion and I find it frustrating to find things that fit and are comfortable, so I keep the rare things I find acceptable around for a long time.
But let's get something straight: I rarely look good.
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#38> The number of garments produced annually has doubled since 2000 and exceeded 100 billion for the first time in 2014: nearly 14 items of clothing for every person on earth That may not be as outrageous as it seems. The world population may not have doubled since 2000, but the number of people out of deep poverty may have, so of course they'll buy clothing. That still doesn't excuse fast fashion, which is so wasteful…
That's not outrageous. The only part that might be is that some people have 1-2 sets of clothes for years while others have 50+ every few months. But tbf at least they're donated en masse.
Here's an interesting breakdown:
https://sharecloth.com/blog/reports/apparel-overproduction
Seems like 30% of production doesn't find a buyer. Still staggering numbers for how many items the average consumer buys.
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#39Interesting article. On discussing buying clothes sight unseen the article mentioned: It’s only once a bale has been opened that the quality of the clothing is discovered. If it’s in good condition, profits can tally quickly to as much as $14,000. But if the clothes are torn or stained, or long out of fashion, their importer may as well have put a torch to their money. I find it interesting that the clothes they want…
I find the general concept of a business model where you buy unknown items and hope they end up covering your costs pretty interesting. I think jade works in a very similar way - the mine produces boulders of unknown quality, and middlemen buy them on the theory that there's probably good jade in some of them.
Re: Many of the clothes we donate to charity end up dumped in landfill
#40Sample 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 away. So I am not surprised.