I am very disgusted right now.
I was driving my dad back to his work, after he dropped his car off for some repairs at my auto shop. We were casually chatting, talking about the weather, and about me driving to Reno this weekend to visit Jonathan. We arrive at his shop, and as he’s getting out of the car, he leans back down and mentions one of the projects he and his crew had earlier this morning.
You see, my dad works for the local Sheriff’s department. He is in charge of taking minimum security inmate work crews around the county and doing various jobs. They’re free cheap labour; instead of hiring expensive contractors to do plumbing/construction/painting/whatever, they find guys in the min. security barracks who are capable, and have them do the work.
This morning, he and his crew had to box up, haul to the dump, and dispose of 8 TONS of counterfeit goods. Hats, coats, shoes, purses, etc etc etc. They were followed by the Secret Service to make certain no one snagged a box out of their trucks. Those boxes full of clothes are going to be destroyed at the dump.
Not recycled.
Not donated to the needy.
DESTROYED.
I was am appalled. It’s cold in Northern California today; when I left my house this morning it was snowing. Now at work, I’m sitting inside wearing two pairs of socks, a coat, and I have a heater behind my desk. I’m still freezing. I can only imagine how the people who live on the streets must feel right now.
I understand that manufacturing and selling counterfeit goods hurts the original designers. I GET THAT. I was a fashion merchandising major, remember? However, this blatant and unnecessary waste really bothers me.
If the clothes aren’t donated, then why isn’t the fabric recycled? Textile recycling of brand new, unworn clothing is easy -
“Fiber reclamation mills grade incoming material into type and color. The color sorting means no re-dying has to take place, saving energy and pollutants. The textiles are shredded into “shoddy” fibers and blended with other selected fibers, depending on the intended end use of the recycled yarn. The blended mixture is carded to clean and mix the fibers and spun ready for weaving or knitting. The fibers can also be compressed for mattress production. Textiles sent to the flocking industry are shredded to make filling material for car insulation, roofing felts, loudspeaker cones, panel linings and furniture padding. “
from Wikipedia
Ok, so they can take the clothes and shred them and make car seat padding out of them. That’s a noble enough venture; it saves money and spares us from using more chemical pollutants than necessary. But I just don’t think that’s enough! So many people in this country call on others to think of the homeless, the needy, the vulnerable….yet this wastefulness continues.
In the UK, they’ve got the right idea. A charity called His Church has taken on the task of collecting and rebranding (covering over “designer” labels) counterfeit goods, and distributing them to the needy.
Here’s an excerpt from the BBC article:
“Every year customs and trading standards spend a fortune on storing fake clothes while waiting for a court decision, and then once the items have been proved to be fake the authorities have to fork out further for incineration or landfill costs.
His Church has removed all such costs and pass on the high quality goods to some 250 homeless centres and women’s shelters across the country.
Even items which are too heavily branded to be patched over with the His Church logo are not wasted.
“We have permission to send them outside the EU, often to Africa,” says Richard (Humphrey, charity coordinator). “But we have a duty of care and trust. We have to keep an audit trail of every single item of clothing, where it’s come from, exactly where it goes – even down to a pair of underpants.”"
I could sure use a cheap new mattress made from recycled I don’t care what.
Those stinking mattresses are expensive! I’m not looking forward to buying a new one when we get a house…
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Hey, interesting ideas. However, with the law enforcement budget being stretched thin, is destroying the items the idea that simply makes the most fiscal sense?
It isn’t so much a question of finding a solution to the problem, but bringing your solution TO the problem. Set up a nonprofit organization, rent an intown Uhaul truck for one day a week, and drive out there yourself if that’s what it takes. Partner with an organization that deals in recycling, or better yet, reclaiming materials and upcycling them in a different state.
Here in Chicago, I went to an event that showcased reclaimed materials transformed into papercraft by female victims of domestic violence. Perhaps something like that might suit your cause. More than needing knockoff purses, working with their hands gives a sense of value to their efforts. (I’m sorry. I can’t remember the name of it right now. I’ll track it down)
If you can’t be the entire solution, be a link in the chain. Perhaps all an organization like that needs is someone to provide the materials and a way to get it there.
I honestly don’t know if budgetary reasons are why the clothes were destroyed; to my knowledge, our county has had a significant budget surplus for the past 5-7 years.
I’m certainly hoping that through informing people about the waste, more of us can make our voice heard, and we can change our practices for the better!
Is there any way you can find out where the excess money is going, and perhaps find out if there is an avenue to funnel money towards putting these items to better upcycled use?
I have often felt the same way. I would also like to add one other Idea. There is MILLIONS of dollars of confiscated money sitting in evidence lockers all over this country. After the trial involving this money is over,hat money should go into the law enforcement department that made the bust. Or, if its the government, the money should go into the general fun, to help aleciated some of teh debt problems.
Good point! You’d be surprised how much weird stuff they have stashed in evidence lockers.
Alyssa,
What a telling example of the wastefulness of not just regular citizens, but also our government. I cannot claim I know a better idea of how to fix this problem, other than to do it one small step at a time by correctly informing the public of such unacceptable laws. Also, we can recommend to every citizen to donate their throw-aways to appropriate causes, like the organization you mentioned in your article. This is my most recent charity find that I am ECSTATIC about:
http://brarecycling.com/
Normally, we women can’t turn in our bras to Goodwill or second-hand stores. Almost no one accepts them, despite the fact that millions of poor and homeless women around the world cannot afford a new bra. I plan to donate all my future bras to this much-needed cause. Just thought I’d share the word!
Bree
Bree, thank you! I was wondering what I was going to do with the bras I have in my “to donate” bag. That is an awesome organisation!
this is actually disgusting, however it happens all over the world. We have millions of pounds worth of food destroyed every year. It is still very much edible but it isn’t donated at all! its terrible.
I really liked reading this post :)
I totally agree. There is so much blatant waste…of so many different consumable products! Thanks for reading :)
Your welcome, great post! :)
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