Today's post is on DONATING clothes, something I don't do as often as I should (being a pack-rat and all).
Obviously, there's no shortage of places to donate your hand-me-downs to. My personal favourites are The Salvation Army (Heils-Armee) and CARITAS, because of the important social work that they do in our community.
There are also Texaid containers in your neighbourhood or at your local bahnhof, if you don't want to have to go far: http://www.texaid.ch/en-us/clothesdisposal/containers.aspx Please note that Texaid donates your clothing to first-aid organizations (when the clothes are needed), but that they mostly re-sell the clothing in 'emerging markets' (i.e. 3rd world countries). Whether or not this is alright with you I'll let you decide. It's a grey area for me. My vote will always go to the local charities.
I really would implore you not to donate to Brockiland. I know of two people who have done so, obviously of the mind that if it's a second-hand shop, it's a charity shop. NOT SO! Brockiland is a for-profit enterprise, and the only good you're doing is lining the pockets of businessmen. Now contrast this with the clean bed and warm meals provided by The Salvation Army volunteers every day for the unloved and downtrodden, or the safe-house for the beaten mother and kid that CARITAS helps to fund. Where you donate is really up to you - but please don't donate clothes to a company when there are many local charities that rely solely on donations to keep them afloat!
HOWEVER....
There's another option. Maybe not a better one, but perhaps one could make an argument that with its vast, international infrastructure, it can have a bigger positive impact, despite also lining the pockets of some very rich white men at the top....
H&M - Long Live Fashion campaign
Yes, for each bag of old clothes or home textiles you bring into H&M for donation, a 'Rabattgutschein' (rebate voucher) will be given to you. The brochure doesn't specify how much, but still - a little cash can go a long way at H&M.
I remember reading up on H&M in the eco-conscious reports, and, surprisingly, it actually doesn't score too bad, particularly on the human-rights front (in comparison to other major clothing manufacturers - I seem to remember hearing that Forever21 was one of the worst for human rights violations, despite their Christian messages on the bottom of their bags. Ironic!).
So there you have it. A bit of a tip for you - if you're in the need of underwear and other things you dare not buy secondhand, and you have a bag of clothing to donate, H&M might pay off rather well for you!
And if you'd rather donate to the Heils-Armee or CARITAS instead, you can still go shopping at H&M later and not pay very much. ;)
In summary, my suggestion is:
- Donate your NICE clothes to CARITAS or the Heils-Armee.
- Donate your worn-out, awful, unwearable, thread-bare clothes and textiles to H&M and cash in on that rebate. As you can see here, they recycle the fibres into insulation and other products - they don't care if the clothes are resaleable or not.
Torn, worn clothes and textiles -> H&M = $ for you!
Nice, marketable clothes -> local charity shop = Good Karma for you, $ for them!
In other news....
Yet another vote of support from a friend of mine (and her sisters!) for the Brockenhaus (Blaues Kreuz) in Bülach - one of the sisters totally refurbished a new house from that Brocki! And do these sisters ever have style and taste, let me tell you! :) A visit to the Blaues Kreuz Brocki is well worth the price of the SBB ticket!
Stay cool in this heat wave, thrifty friends!
TiZ
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