Donation is the oldest form of Recycling, in the essence of the term. If you think about it, our ancestors have tried and tested this form of recycling over generations and it has served them well enough that there are worldwide organizations that are coordinating these efforts throughout the globe.
Clothing Donation is the most widely practiced form of charity which is driven by strong recycling behavior. For most of us, this behavioral trait is learned from our grandparents and parents and makes an appearance in our daily lives more often than we think. Within a family with more than one child, clothes are usually saved and passed down to younger siblings and cousins, all happily wearing each garment for years on end, and their mother saves the ones that do not fit anymore for the future generation! The other leg of their answer to the question of how to donate old clothes was to give it to those in need, to the house help, or to an orphanage near our home. With each spring-cleaning spree, mounds of unused clothes would be gathered and sorted in batches and then driven to the local clothing donation site. A closed cycle within a close-knit community! The epitome of a sustainable eutopia!
This behavioral trait may have been overshadowed by the misplaced shame of “accepting others refuse” and gripped in the many tentacles of the fast fashion industry, be it unsustainably cheap prices or the low quality of the items where it cannot be used past a couple of washes, and constant bombarding of fictitious trends. But we are slowly beginning to take heed to the lessons of our past practices and going back to our roots, with movements of upcycled fashion and slow fashion verging on becoming mainstream.
Clothing Donations are the most direct and cost-effective method of diverting textile waste from ending up in a landfill where it will inevitably contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Clothes donations in India alone can divert almost 4000-kilo tonnes of textile waste from landfills, made up of just post-consumer waste. To put these terms of textile wastage into perspective, 4000-kilo tonnes weigh more than all the elephants we have on our entire planet!
With the growing need to implement all forms of sustainable practices, there are a number of organizations that have taken up the task of the bridge between benefactors and beneficiaries. Cloth Donations, Upcycling products, Recycling cloths, and Re-selling at subsidized rates or Thrifting are some of the sustainable practices that are taken up by good Samaritans who understand and acknowledge the value of the circular economy. Here are a few initiatives that work in the realm of clothing donations.
Re-Store.
Started as a passion project based on the idea of thrift stores, which she had come across during her time in the UK, Devyani started Re-store, right in her neighborhood to provide a local space for people to “reduce, reuse and share”. Re-Store accepts donations of any item in good condition. Clothes donations in Bangalore take up most space in her charming store, often brimming with branded clothes in good condition. Everything in Re-Store is priced between 1 to 100 Rupees, affordable and value-adding to the local market. Re-store serves as an important channel for people to give away their used belongings instead of discarding them, while also spreading happiness to the many buyers from lower socio-economic areas to whom these items are now made accessible. All the proceeds from the store’s sales go into the upkeep of the store itself. A simple not-for-profit run as a sustainability model right in our backyard, spreading awareness around the value of pre-loved clothing, the harms of fast fashion and the importance of sustainable fashion and living. Devyani is always willing to help with donations and encourages others to start similar thrift stores in their neighborhoods! For more information, you can reach out directly. Re-Store is located in Whitefield, Bangalore and the Instagram handle is
(@ thrift.restoreblr) thrift.restoreblr
Clothes Box Foundation.
Founded on the belief that everyone deserves clean clothing and the realization that millions of people residing in underdeveloped parts of our country lack access to clean clothing, Sajan Abrol started the Clothes Box Foundation. What started as a clothing donation drive online with the help of social media, soon snowballed into an in-house recycling center – Refresh, where those clothes received as donations, that are unfit to be used, be recycled to provide blankets, sleeping bags and durries to the underprivileged and also pet beds for animal welfare while providing skill training for women from rural regions. These women are trained in industrial stitching to upcycle discarded clothes into utility items. Creating a one-stop shop for complete waste management, the Clothes Box Foundation has achieved a wide reach in the realm of clothes donation in India. Catering to more than 25000 zip codes in India, one can arrange for a pick-up or choose to drop off or self-courier, making clothing donation easier than ever.
Visit their website: https://clothesboxfoundation.org/
Share At Door Step (SADS)
With the aim of bridging the gap between the “need to donate” and “how to donate”, Anushka Jain set out to start her entrepreneurial enterprise – Share At Door Step, a for-profit social venture that provided doorstep donation services to individuals and corporate donors and also provides marketing solutions to companies for their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) related activities. SADS provides an online platform for users to access to information on the requirements of SADS partnered Non-Profits according to their location. Once they get a match, pickups can be scheduled or a drop-off option is also available for those who would like to make their clothes donations in DIY mode. To encourage benefactors to return and donate again, with every donation, donors receive gifts from socially inclined brands as a gesture of gratitude, enabling SADS to build their brand and connect and strengthen their bond with their donors.
Visit their website: https://sadsindia.org/
Poshmark
A social marketplace catering to over 80 million members across the United States of America, Canada and Australia, Poshmark boasts of bringing people together in the name of luxury thrifting. Items like once-worn outfits, new beauty items and home decor sell like hotcakes on this mobile application. Poshmark’s unique selling point is that it provides people with an easy user interface and process to list and sell items in their closets that “no longer sparks joy”- Marie Kondo, and also purchase unique and designer products at a reduced price. One can even attend PoshParties, virtual buying and selling events that happen on the app. Members can browse, buy and also list things together with friends. Shipping is taken care of by the Poshmark team to add to the list of conveniences for members. This model of clothes thrifting more so, donation supports and builds community ties and provides an important outlet for the re-sale of items of luxury and branded stuff that one cannot just give away.
Visite their website: https://poshmark.com/
This For That.
This For That is a wonderful community, where each member opens up a part of their closet that they want to share with others! This For That model makes sure members can upgrade their closets without having to spend money to buy new things all the time. TFT community members can swap clothes, shoes, bags, accessories and beauty, on a permanent or temporary basis, the choice is entirely up to them. This For That caters to a wide range of requests, like when you need to declutter your closet or you can even send out SOS feelers for items to complete your last-minute outfit for that wedding next week with a temporary swapping option as well! Satiate the fashionista in you without leaving a massive carbon footprint with a swap more, shop less approach. This For That application is available in both Play Store and Apple App Store. Register and get swapping!
Clothing donation has been around for longer than we remember and it will continue to be an integral part of our community as there is always a way to reach out and donate. So next time you have reached the tipping point in your closet of endless clothes, you can look always look up one of these options to become an integral cog in the circular economy and pay it forward!
Instagram handle- @thisforthatcloset
References:
- https://clothesboxfoundation.org/pickup/
- https://www.whatshot.in/bangalore/re-store-a-thrift-shop-in-whitefield-v-155297
- https://poshmark.com/what_is_poshmark
- https://whitefieldrising.org/blog/whitefields-community-store-re-store/
- https://www.thisforthat.mobi/about.php
- https://sadsindia.org/how-we-work/
- https://yourstory.com/2016/08/share-at-door-step
- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-10-7007-5_13
- https://fashionforgood.com/our_news/wealth-in-waste-indias-potential-to-lead-circular-textile-sourcing/#:~:text=Up%20to%207800%20kilotonnes%20of,that%20contributes%20a%20further%207%25.
- https://reports.fashionforgood.com/report/trillion-dollar-fashion-decarbonisation/chapterdetail?reportid=471 HYPERLINK “https://reports.fashionforgood.com/report/trillion-dollar-fashion-decarbonisation/chapterdetail?reportid=471&chapter=3″& HYPERLINK “https://reports.fashionforgood.com/report/trillion-dollar-fashion-decarbonisation/chapterdetail?reportid=471&chapter=3″chapter=3