Today, we are buying 60% more clothes than only two decades ago. Fast fashion is still on the rise. Parallel to these two things is the increase in textiles being landfilled (textiles sent to Wellington’s Southern Landfill have more than doubled since 2009). One ‘sustainable solution’ to this crisis - is second hand shopping and donating.

It’s a common practice many of us will be familiar with - we go into our overflowing wardrobes made up of items we have likely worn seven times or less (many only once or twice), collect those we haven’t worn in recent months and toss them into a tote bag before taking them down to our local Salvation Army or Vinnie’s. We feel good about doing this - because our clothes are staying in circulation. A simple solution that’s a win for both parties and makes us feel good.

Personally, I am not immune to the good feeling of leaving behind a bag of clothes after doing a really good clearout of my wardrobe. But - is this weight just being shifted elsewhere?

Let’s preface this piece by saying that donating clothing to charity stores is not inherently bad. Purchasing clothes second hand is a far more sustainable practice than purchasing brand new. Charities earning money while clothes stay in circulation is a positive thing. IF it happens.

HOWEVER.

Unfortunately it is not so simple - and there are a few key issues at play here.

Firstly, charity shops are inundated with mountains of clothes. Many are drowning in them and they can’t keep up.

**Whatever you do, don’t just dump clothes outside!**

It has been reported that only 10% of items donated to charity stores are actually purchased. This is for a number of reasons, including the varying conditions of clothes donated, current trends, the volume of clothes donated. So what happens to the other 90%?

While many charity stores do work to try and divert what they can from landfill, through donations of items to community groups, linen for animal charities such as the SPCA, and selling bales of rags, a statement from the National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO) in Australia reported that Australian charitable recycling organisations are spending $13 million every year sending unusable donations to landfill. A large portion of this will be clothing. In New Zealand, Red Cross Retail Manager Tania O’leary reported that in 2018, they had to take on $50,000 in disposal costs. The Wellington City Mission takes two truck loads of rubbish to the landfill each week, spending about $10,000 a year to dump other people’s rubbish. For Auckland City Mission, this figure is $20,000.

Staff, in many cases volunteers, are left to deal with old, broken, worn and dirty or unhygienic items that they absolutely should not have to.

So how do we go about disposing of our clothes responsibly?

The first and most important method is by reducing what we purchase in the first place. The overconsumption of fast fashion textiles which have a short lifespan to begin with is only expediting the increasing volumes of unsaleable donations which are forwarded on to landfills.

Purchase less and purchase consciously. Consider how many times you will wear an item and try to buy only what you can see yourself wearing at least 30 times.

If you won’t, or you need an item for a specific event - consider shopping your own wardrobe, a friend’s wardrobe for an item to borrow, or renting an item.

If you are donating however, here are some ways to do so more responsibly.

Only donate what you would sell to someone you know.

Ensure items are washed, clean, in usable condition, and have decent wear left in them. If repairs can be made to ensure this, do this before you donate, whether it be sewing a button back on or repairing a hole.

Verify what the store needs

Call up or visit the store before you donate, and check that they are accepting donations of clothes. If they aren’t, find another store who is accepting donations.

Ensure the charities’ mission aligns with you

This one is not so much on environmental sustainability - but make sure you are donating quality items to a place you would personally donate money to - one whose mission you believe in and a cause you support.

Consider alternate methods of off-handing your clothes

Organise a clothes swap with your friends, donate clothes to people you know (confirm they will wear and want the piece!), see if there are any community groups or charities calling for specific donations near you or turn old clothes which have reached the end of their life into rags or something new you can use around the house.

Whatever you do, do not dump your donations in front of a charity shops’ door after hours. This creates mess for the staff, and is not considerate of the service they are providing you.

All in all, it comes down to being more conscious. We cannot keep purchasing clothes at the rate we are, or offloading them in the way that we are, including donating them to charity stores irresponsibly at such a high rate. Second hand donating and shopping can be a fantastic thing, if we are doing it properly.

Sources:

'NZ Landfills are becoming full of unloved clothes as fast fashion grows' - NZ Stuff Report 2019

‘Charities spending thousands to dump unsellable donations' - Radio New Zealand 2019

'Charities spending millions cleaning up fast fashion graveyard' - ABC 2018

'The not so sustainable truth behind op-shopping' - Sauce Mag