Why donating your clothes isn’t as helpful as you think

You might feel good about donating your old clothes, but nobody actually needs them. Part of the problem is fast fashion. Experts say the solution is to stop buying.

SOURCES

Juliet B. Schor, Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth
Elizabeth Cline, Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion

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[Yuji_DeadEnd]

Rather than seeing stores that sell clothes, I'd love to see stores that offer alterations/modifications on your favorite shirt/jeans or shoes. This service type has not been marketed a lot but I think that world needs less waste and this will create jobs for designers, seamstress?

[SSanf]

Wow. Talk about your first world problems. My friends and I always swap clothes. Why? Necessity! Never in my life have I gotten 70 new pieces of clothes in a year. Don't know anyone who has. The church I do some volunteer work for has a free clothing bank and they are far from over stocked. They give it away when people come for their free food basket. They always need men's clothes. It is one way homeless people can get something clean to wear. If you want your clothes reused, give it to a place that distributes it for free instead of those charities that resell it in stores. Schools often need some clothes on hand for kids who have accidents or seem in need of clothing. If you have good kids clothes, ask there first.

[soulcleaner]

People that know me always complain that my wardrobe never really changes and well why would it? If they fit me and still look decent why buy more clothing than i really need? Even when I fast I have a belt to make sure they still fit. It just makes sense to me.

[TNinja]

I'm sitting here with about 5 year old T-Shirts still in use.

Meh.

[BillFurlong]

This video may be very factually accurate, but not at all helpful with what to do when trying to purge large amounts of things from your house and actually help someone.

[lindahandley]

I was brought to tears when I researched what happens to the clothing that I donate to Goodwill. I don't give things that are worn out, wrinkled or dirty. Some of my things still have the tags on them and the rest are in really good shape and weren't cheap in price. It's a shame if I can't wear them and I don't want to sell them online. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[LoLo-xvke]

This is wrong - you should not tell people not to donate. There are millions of people in the world who do need others old clothes. Do some research.

[aaron___]

How did they come up with 70 new garments per person per year?

[Nicholas-f]

Boycott fast fashion like HM and mall junk. Buy quality clothes.

[vanallen]

When i saw it in philippines that donation clothes are sold in stalls, I felt sad knowing that all of our donation back home went to nothing, I thought it was intended for charity.

[victoriawatkins]

Honestly as a family of five we mainly only buy new socks, underwear, and school uniforms. Which doesn't equalthat number. Mostly every other item is used.

[kikyoustorm]

It helps me. I love my thrift store. I can get new clothes or newish clothes for very little. sometimes blankets. I love getting nice looking business outfits. My thread-barren stuff gets thrown away. If i find something Real cheap and find out i dont wear it that often or i get a gift or something that i dont personally like or dont need, I give it to my thrift store. And what is bizzare to me is that tshirts and sweaters, is basically the stuff i have to throw away most often. It pills, holes show up, one time ripped apart and i have to go out every 2 years to get simple sweaters. Sometimes i buy clearance items at outlets that i cant get at the thrift store and i find that generally the thrift store i go to is cheaper with better quality items. My family needs the thrift store. I think people should just donate to thrift stores nearby or church functions instead of big box "thrift" places that burn the clothes!??? sounds bizzaro to me.

[doitalldan]

Turn your used clothes into rags. If they're nice clothes in good shape, then donate them.

[randolpascano]

Buy less, buy the classics (never gets outdated) and take care of what you have.

[sirthicenskoorb]

I watched the earlier story on this problem. I live in the US. Im sure US has the same problem. Yes people should buy less. I would call this stuff junk fashion. Most of it is poor quality and design. Most of it looks bad on people. I worked in retail and looked at a lot of poorly dressed people. Our taste has gone to the dogs. Stop buying this junk and put the money in the bank.

[Altereddandelion]

I was about to sleep and suddenly out of nowhere thought "What happens to clothes you donate". Thank you for this video haha

[roshnipaikira]

Hi ma'am, , this is ROSHNI, ,I am working in orphanage service, , for the happyness of children, , can u give to them mam, ,, we stay at Bengaluru Karnataka

[takeoutbox]

I always cut up my old sweaters and make crafts out of it

[careya]

I know women who shop for clothes weekly. It's their weekend entertainment.

[USCG.Brennan]

I haven't bought a new piece of clothing in YEARS (except when my jeans wear out from if I do, I'll look at Goodwill or something like that. Many times I've found NEW clothing there or if I really like something there, I'll wash it at home and then wear it. Why pay full price when I can pay 1/3? And because I take good care of my clothes and haven't gained any weight in the past 30 years, I can wear the same clothes for YEARS. Lucky ;-)