{"id":161583,"date":"2014-03-14T14:40:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T14:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T17:41:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T17:41:26","slug":"what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/","title":{"rendered":"What really happens to your donated clothing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Shannon Whitehead<\/strong>, a sustainable apparel consultant and columnist for the Ethical Fashion Forum. This post was originally published at shannonwhitehead.com<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How often do you drop off clothes at your local charity shop?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re anything like the rest of the country, Goodwill and Salvation Army are the perfect resources for discarding the stuff that you don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair of jeans that don\u2019t fit you anymore? Donate. The sweater with the small hole in the armpit? Donate. The dress that\u2019s been pushed to the back of your closet? Donate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of us see these donation centers as a way to throw out what we don\u2019t want without actually throwing<\/em> it out. In fact, we believe we\u2019re doing the world a service by giving our old clothes to those living somewhere in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, what we\u2019ve come to believe isn\u2019t that simple. I\u2019d go so far to say it\u2019s fundamentally flawed. Here\u2019s why:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2013<\/strong> About 4.7 billion pounds of clothing are donated by Americans each year. Some of that ends up in landfills, some of it is recycled into rags and insulation, and some of it ends up in the markets of Sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013<\/strong> Whether it\u2019s Goodwill, Salvation Army, Savers or another charity shop, employees at all of these stores are sorting through the hundreds of bags of discarded clothing that comes in every day. Sifting through mostly worn, old and faded garments, only about 10 percent of the clothing donated is good enough to be resold<\/strong> in the retail store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013<\/strong> So what happens to the other 90 percent? The charity shop sells the garments by weight or by the bin to textile recyclers. The clothing is shipped to a recycling plant where employees sort the garments by \u201cgrade\u201d and fiber. As shirts, dresses, pants and jackets come off a conveyor belt, an employee must make a snap decision as to where that piece of clothing will end up next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 <\/strong>The clothing deemed \u201cre-sellable\u201d is shipped in containers by the tons to countries such as Ghana, Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Tanzania and Rwanda. One hundred pound bales are then sold to sellers in these countries at a profit for the recycling plant.<\/strong> One bale costs around the same amount as feeding a family of five for a month in a country such as Cameroon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013<\/strong> The bales are not allowed to be opened until the purchase is final. So, the seller is relying completely on the employee who made a snap decision in the recycling center. If a recycler missed a hole in a shirt or a broken zipper on a pair of pants, the seller ends up paying for the mistake.<\/strong> The quality of the clothing is only as good as the recycling plant\u2019s sorting method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013<\/strong> So, the plant must be pretty strict then, right? Actually, it\u2019s a toss up. While there are responsible recyclers, there are just as many that are lenient and careless. In fact, there is no auditing system or accountability control should an entirely damaged bale show up in Africa.<\/strong> Because the seller needs to make the money back to buy his or her next bale, one bad purchase can result in bankruptcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 <\/strong>The global trade of second-hand clothing is a multi-billion dollar industry for developed countries. With our clothing waste being sent overseas by the tons, there\u2019s little chance of African countries, as a whole, developing their own textile trade. In the last 10 years, local industries, such as garment-making and tailoring, have collapsed, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers unemployed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

People will argue that the second-hand clothing industry in Africa is booming. And, on the surface, it is \u2013 over one-third of Sub-Saharan Africans wear second-hand. The reality, though, is that for as long as the second-hand clothing industry thrives, Africa economy is unlikely to improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Professor Garth Frazer from the University of Toronto, no country has ever achieved a sustainable per capita national income (at a level associated with a developing economy) without also achieving a clothing-manufacturing workforce that employs at least 1 percent of the population.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, certain African nations have attempted to ban or restrict the influx of Western clothing imports. In an effort to give existing industries a chance and to maintain traditional culture, countries such as South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria have tried to implement regulation. While it\u2019s done some good for those countries, it hasn\u2019t provided a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, as long as we, the consumer, continue to buy and discard at our current rate, there will be a market for our wasted fashion.<\/strong> And we will likely continue to believe that once it\u2019s out of our closet it\u2019s out of our hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facts in this post can be attributed to the research of Lucy Siegle, author of \u201cTo Die For: Is Fashion Wearing Out the World?<\/a>\u201d, an op-ed by Tansy Hoskins in\u00a0The Business of Fashion<\/a>\u00a0and various other sources.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How often do you drop off clothes at your local charity shop? But where does it really go?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"164315,163702,163391,163302,161617,161629","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[45],"contributor":[68],"one_content_audience":[],"one_content_type":[],"one_content_tone":[],"class_list":["post-161583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-aid-and-development","contributor-guest-blogger"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat really happens to your donated clothing? - ONE.org US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What really happens to your donated clothing?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How often do you drop off clothes at your local charity shop? If you\u2019re anything like the rest of the country, Goodwill and Salvation Army are the perfect resources for discarding the stuff that you don't need. But where does it really go?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ONE.org US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ONE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-14T14:40:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-19T17:41:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.one.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/clothesafrica_207.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"What really happens to your donated clothing?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ONEinAmerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ONEinAmerica\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/236ef43a079c36667c3f1de2da8e0838\"},\"headline\":\"What really happens to your donated clothing?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-14T14:40:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-19T17:41:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/\"},\"wordCount\":859,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/\",\"name\":\"What really happens to your donated clothing? - ONE.org US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-14T14:40:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-19T17:41:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What really happens to your donated clothing?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/\",\"name\":\"ONE.org\",\"description\":\"Driving economic opportunities and healthy lives in Africa\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ONE Campaign\",\"alternateName\":\"ONE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/ONE-logo-black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/ONE-logo-black.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"ONE Campaign\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ONE\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ONEinAmerica\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/oneintheus\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/one-campaign\/\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@one.org\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@ONE\",\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/onecampaign.bsky.social\"],\"telephone\":\"+1 202 495 2700\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-05-16\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/236ef43a079c36667c3f1de2da8e0838\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b4204681b789d34ede86a735f8b6378df901f7f7ab7a9ca89af4670b2bb13b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b4204681b789d34ede86a735f8b6378df901f7f7ab7a9ca89af4670b2bb13b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.one.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What really happens to your donated clothing? - ONE.org US","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What really happens to your donated clothing?","og_description":"How often do you drop off clothes at your local charity shop? If you\u2019re anything like the rest of the country, Goodwill and Salvation Army are the perfect resources for discarding the stuff that you don't need. But where does it really go?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/","og_site_name":"ONE.org US","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ONE","article_published_time":"2014-03-14T14:40:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-19T17:41:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.one.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/clothesafrica_207.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"What really happens to your donated clothing?","twitter_creator":"@ONEinAmerica","twitter_site":"@ONEinAmerica","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/236ef43a079c36667c3f1de2da8e0838"},"headline":"What really happens to your donated clothing?","datePublished":"2014-03-14T14:40:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-19T17:41:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/"},"wordCount":859,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/","url":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/","name":"What really happens to your donated clothing? - ONE.org US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-14T14:40:52+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-19T17:41:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/what-really-happens-to-your-donated-clothing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What really happens to your donated clothing?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/","name":"ONE.org","description":"Driving economic opportunities and healthy lives in Africa","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#organization","name":"ONE Campaign","alternateName":"ONE","url":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/ONE-logo-black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/ONE-logo-black.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"ONE Campaign"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ONE","https:\/\/x.com\/ONEinAmerica","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/oneintheus\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/one-campaign\/","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@one.org","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@ONE","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/onecampaign.bsky.social"],"telephone":"+1 202 495 2700","foundingDate":"2004-05-16"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/236ef43a079c36667c3f1de2da8e0838","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b4204681b789d34ede86a735f8b6378df901f7f7ab7a9ca89af4670b2bb13b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2b4204681b789d34ede86a735f8b6378df901f7f7ab7a9ca89af4670b2bb13b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.one.org"],"url":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/stories\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"ONE.org US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161583"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=161583"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=161583"},{"taxonomy":"one_content_audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/one_content_audience?post=161583"},{"taxonomy":"one_content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/one_content_type?post=161583"},{"taxonomy":"one_content_tone","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/one_content_tone?post=161583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}