Did you know, wintertime is the most popular season for clothes donations? If you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, you could chalk this up to the Christmas spirit, but sadly this is most likely due to Autumn being the most popular season for buying new clothes, with many of us operating a one-in-one-out wardrobe policy. (If you do this – find out how to stop feeling the pressure to shop, and how to take better care of your clothes!)
On the positive side, we also think more about giving to charity during the holiday season. But is it right to donate clothes to charity, seeing as we have enough clothes on the planet to dress the next six generations? That’s a question I’ve had floating around in my head for some time now, and wanted to explore in more detail, because the answer isn’t straightforward…
The Fashion System Is Broken
I have to start this post by disclaiming that many of the fashion industry’s problems cannot be solved by donating clothes to charity. First, we have to recognise that the fashion industry is making far too many clothes. This huge excess of clothing leads to huge amounts of clothing waste – and that’s not including the off-cuts, packaging, or carbon emissions. (If you care about this, join me in calling for degrowth and supporting organisations like Fashion Revolution).
Next, there’s the undeniable fact that the average quality of our clothes is worse than ever before. This is because of the unimaginable speed, volume, and greed of fast fashion brands. The way clothes are made by fast fashion brands means they are not made to last as long, and these principles are diluting the wider fashion industry too.
Finally, when clothes do reach the end of their life, many clothes end up in landfill, or shipped to countries in the Global South to be sorted or thrown away. This is also known as waste colonialism. And, the sad reality is, even if you do not put end-of-life garments in the bin, and instead sell them on, swap them, or donate them to charity, they may still end up in landfill or as someone else’s problem.
Why You Should (Still) Donate Your Clothes To Charity
Due to the ever-growing amount of clothing waste, its ever-depleting quality, and issues such as waste colonialism, you may think that donating clothes to charity is no longer a good idea. However, I have to disagree.
Donating your clothes to charity is still a very valuable act. Three key reasons to donate your clothes to charity include:
- Clothes donations to charities help to fund charitable activities
- Some clothes donations will clothe those in need
- Even unwearable clothing can still be of value if donated to a charity that can handle the waste correctly.
And that’s the crux of the issue: making sure your clothes donations go to the right place. While it’s almost impossible to ensure that your clothes donations will be kept at their highest value – as per circular fashion principles – there are a few ways to improve the likelihood that your clothes donations will benefit charities and their beneficiaries.
