Old Clothes

jo_b_2

lisyloo wrote:

I think some thought needs to be put into what is given to charity shops.
They are not a dumping ground for peoples rubbish.
I always ask myself "would someone want to buy this". If it's not realistically going to sell (even to the less well off) then it's unfair to dump it on a charity shop as it costs them money to dispose of things.

I think some people (like the wood chippings example) are dumping all their junk on a charity shops without giving it too much thought.

I think you've got a valid point, lisyloo. Oxfam, for example, specifically asks people to make sure the items are likely to sell before they go to the trouble of donating them:

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/how_to_donate/cantsell.htm

(Quote from that link:
"Our shops only sell items that we think our customers will want to buy. If you give us things we can't sell, we have to throw them away. This costs Oxfam more than £1 million every year - money that we'd much rather spend on our work with poor people.
By spending a few extra minutes sorting your unwanted items before you bring them in, you help us to make your gifts go even further.")

I volunteered in an Oxfam shop about 10 years ago and I was heartbroken when perfectly good books got thrown away because they didn't sell within a set period. I used to rescue them from the throwing away pile and buy them rather than see them go to landfill. Because of that experience I never donate books to charity shops - I prefer to sell them through Amazon or just keep them on my bookshelves. I hate the thought of books being thrown away.

Clothes weren't thrown out - they had a 'rag man' who came about once a week and took the poorer quality clothes. From memory I think these went on to become mop heads, amongst other items.

Savvy_Sue

I agree that you've got to be a bit selective about what you give to charity shops, because we used to have a couple round here which were dingy, badly displayed, badly sorted and generally horrible to go into. I know for one of them it was hardly their fault: they were in an old and rundown property, and since they've moved to a nice bright clean shiny new shop, it's a much pleasanter experience to go in there. But when I go in there, I expect to find reasonable quality things, not jumble sale bargains.

I'm in two minds whether to even send my old table mats to the charity shop because they're by no means perfect. Serviceable, but not perfect. Would I buy them? probably not. Haven't been able to freecycle them either ...

lamb7994

it's true alot people use our charity shops as a local tip instead of going them selves and it costs to dispose of the rubbish for example where one of my shops is based each bin cost £150 per lift i.e empty and we have 2 bins and get emptied once a week. luckily both bins don;t need emptying each time.
I've had everything from garden waste to food scraps and dentures. then some stuff is dangerous such as syringes and broken bottles.


James

liz545

When I have old clothes that I want to donate, I tend to give them to a nearby homelessness shelter; they don't have the constraints of space that many charity shops do, and they're always in need of clothes in good condition, even if they're not fashionable. I hadn't heard of Aquabox before, but this seems like a good solution if you have housewares to donate (http://www.aquabox.org/)

Savvy_Sue

liz545 wrote:

When I have old clothes that I want to donate, I tend to give them to a nearby homelessness shelter; they don't have the constraints of space that many charity shops do, and they're always in need of clothes in good condition, even if they're not fashionable.

Could I stress that bit please? And do check with the shelter first: I work for a charity where we do need small women's clothes, but it does need to be in good condition, and we can't store huge quanitities, and we definitely don't want dirty underwear! :eek:

thriftyjo

I think the thing is to only donate what you would be willing to buy yourself! Some charity shops do get more donations because of where they are situated so it's always worth asking them first if they can take what you have to offer rather than dumping it on their doorstep. If not there is probably another shop around the corner who would be glad of it.

I was made up a while ago when I saw my daughters old dressing up clothes in the charity shop window in a lovely display ... Made me feel all fuzzy inside because it was going to be used again! Thats the problem with children they grow too quickly!

Moon~Shadow

I have had similar experiences where Charity Shops have said 'not more stuff' - obviously I don't bother donating to that shop again!

I put anything worth recycling in our 'recycling' wheelie bin. I have also found there is a Clothes Recycling Bank in our local Tesco Carpark - these items go to Scope. I did ring someone about this as I had items which were torn, odd socks, worn bedding etc and I was told to put them in a bag, mark it 'RAGS' and these bags are then sold and turned into carpet underlay plus it saves the sorters having to open the bags. All the stuff was clean but not good enough to be sold so I think this is good way of further recycling.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Moon~Shadow wrote:

I have had similar experiences where Charity Shops have said 'not more stuff' - obviously I don't bother donating to that shop again!

I put anything worth recycling in our 'recycling' wheelie bin. I have also found there is a Clothes Recycling Bank in our local Tesco Carpark - these items go to Scope. I did ring someone about this as I had items which were torn, odd socks, worn bedding etc and I was told to put them in a bag, mark it 'RAGS' and these bags are then sold and turned into carpet underlay plus it saves the sorters having to open the bags. All the stuff was clean but not good enough to be sold so I think this is good way of further recycling.

So that's what happens to recycled rags. I did wonder what they did with them.