Environmental Considerations
In 2006, the City of Oakland adopted a Zero Waste Strategic Plan with the goal of reducing solid waste by 90% by the year 2020. In the ensuing eight years, Oakland residents and businesses have made huge strides in that direction but some of our big local non-profits have already far exceeded that goal. In a report issued earlier this year, Saint Vincent de Paul notes that 99% of the textiles (clothing, bedding, carpets, etc.) they've received as donations have either been resold or recycled for other uses.
Goodwill Industries similarly reported that 98% of EVERYTHING they've received has either found a new home or been reprocessed for other uses. Most of the smaller non-profits we're recommending are nearly as conscientious using Waste Management's recycling bins or channeling the materials they can't sell to the big institutional non-profits that are better equipped to recycle locally.
The environmental record of the bin operators that are not based in Oakland is far less rosy. Their claim that all the clothing they collect would otherwise end up in the garbage is patently absurd. The truth is that the donation bins do keep a very small percentage of textiles from the solid waste stream, but at what cost to the environment and to the economic well-being of nations in Africa and Latin America.
The global trade in used clothes has a massive carbon footprint. The clothing collected here is packed into massive bales and transported by tractor trailer as far as Texas - approximately, 1800 miles.
The bales are subsequently loaded onto freighters and shipped for resale to either Latin America or to Africa. The distance to the latter is approximately 7000 miles. According to an article in Wikipedia:
The environmental impact of shipping includes greenhouse gas emissions, acoustic, and oil pollution. Carbon dioxide emissions from shipping is estimated to be 4 to 5 percent of the global total and are considered to be a significant source of air pollution, with 18 to 30 percent of all nitrogen oxide and 9 percent of sulphur oxide pollution. Sulfur in the air creates acid rain which damages crops and buildings. When inhaled the sulfur is known to cause respiratory problems and even increase the risk of a heart attack.
In addition, the glut of used clothing imported from Europe and the US (combined with inexpensive imports from China) is having a huge impact on the textile industry in Latin America and Africa. The following quote is from a 2013 CNN report:
According to a 2006 report, textile and clothing employment in Ghana declined by 80% from 1975 to 2000; in Zambia it fell from 25,000 workers in the 1980s to below 10,000 in 2002; and in Nigeria the number of workers fell from 200,000 to being insignificant.
Goodwill Industries similarly reported that 98% of EVERYTHING they've received has either found a new home or been reprocessed for other uses. Most of the smaller non-profits we're recommending are nearly as conscientious using Waste Management's recycling bins or channeling the materials they can't sell to the big institutional non-profits that are better equipped to recycle locally.
The environmental record of the bin operators that are not based in Oakland is far less rosy. Their claim that all the clothing they collect would otherwise end up in the garbage is patently absurd. The truth is that the donation bins do keep a very small percentage of textiles from the solid waste stream, but at what cost to the environment and to the economic well-being of nations in Africa and Latin America.
The global trade in used clothes has a massive carbon footprint. The clothing collected here is packed into massive bales and transported by tractor trailer as far as Texas - approximately, 1800 miles.
The bales are subsequently loaded onto freighters and shipped for resale to either Latin America or to Africa. The distance to the latter is approximately 7000 miles. According to an article in Wikipedia:
The environmental impact of shipping includes greenhouse gas emissions, acoustic, and oil pollution. Carbon dioxide emissions from shipping is estimated to be 4 to 5 percent of the global total and are considered to be a significant source of air pollution, with 18 to 30 percent of all nitrogen oxide and 9 percent of sulphur oxide pollution. Sulfur in the air creates acid rain which damages crops and buildings. When inhaled the sulfur is known to cause respiratory problems and even increase the risk of a heart attack.
In addition, the glut of used clothing imported from Europe and the US (combined with inexpensive imports from China) is having a huge impact on the textile industry in Latin America and Africa. The following quote is from a 2013 CNN report:
According to a 2006 report, textile and clothing employment in Ghana declined by 80% from 1975 to 2000; in Zambia it fell from 25,000 workers in the 1980s to below 10,000 in 2002; and in Nigeria the number of workers fell from 200,000 to being insignificant.
