Clothing Donation Critique

My understanding is that these days clothing is so cheap that there really isn't a lot of people who lack clothing anymore. Even in the poorest corners of the world, people have a few sets of clothing and maybe even shoes.This is huge progress compared to the old days, when many people only had one set of clothes, and had to wash them naked.If the price for this is a lot of clothing trash, that seems a pretty great bargain to me.

why not fix or recycle old clothes?

Perhaps, but if clothes are cheap, income is disposable and fashion is fast, why bother?Other than jeans, shoes, socks and underwear, I haven't worn through or grown out of anything in forever, nothing to pass on really.That said, the textile collection and resale industry is huge; stuff gets sorted, parts go to secondhand shops and charity, part gets baled up and exported, parts get recycled, etc. Same with electronics, it ends up in low-wage countries in Africa and south-Asia where

The HN headline doesn't reflect the statement. Do not donate used clothing.

Old clothes aren't the issue, it's the resources needed to make new clothes.

Why don't you just donate the clothing?

Don’t some clothing stores also destroy all the clothes they discard so that they can’t be resold?

why not straight to the trash. why would you feel that some article of clothing that is so poorly made that you refuse to wear it should be foisted upon someone else? this just feels like you trying to make yourself feel good without actually doing any good.

That would be planned obsolescence of clothes.

Why don't developed countries reuse the clothing there? Save the shipping. Maybe force the stores also to sell second-hand clothes with new clothes.