December 22nd, 2006 - The Truth About Where Your Donated Clothes End Up
Ever wondered what happens when you donate clothes to charity? ABC News: The Truth About Where Your Donated Clothes End Up explains the process. It was no surprise to me, but might be to you: Only about 10% is resold. Of the rest, about 25% is recycled within the US (into such things as cleaning cloths). The remainder goes primarily to Africa, where it is resold in markets.
The sad part about the latter is that the heavy influx of cheap used clothing from the US has decimated the local African textile economy. Decimated.
I didn’t know this before I joined in on Kiva and I just checked–none of those to whom I’ve loaned money resell clothing bales. But I do recall reading about folks who do. I would find it awkward to support such a business.
I used to throw unsellable clothing in the garbage. I recently learned that our regional Goodwill has their own recycling industry, so I’ve been donating them. Sounds like most charities can sell off the old clothes so others may be able to do this as well. but check first–I also heard of a small local charity that was considering droppnig incoming donations because they didn’t have the time to sort through the clothing, the vast majority of which wasn’t wearable.