Charity banks are bursting at the seams, according to a clothes reseller, who has urged the public to think twice when making donations in order to prevent wastage
Have you ever spotted bags of donated goods piling up in front of charity clothes banks and wondered where they end up? One money-savvy Brit has shared an alarming revelation about what can happen when you have too much of a good thing.
Taking to TikTok, Rachel shared the scene from her local Salvation Army donation station, where dozens of bags were seen piling up on the pavement due to the banks bursting at their seems. “This is what I saw today,” she began in a video. “People didn’t dump these – they donated – but with nowhere to left to put them, this is the result.”
Rachel, who sells her own pre-loved clothing via Vinted asked: “People came here with good intentions, but if the banks are full where do you expect it all to go? It really does break my heart to see this sort of thing happening all the time.” She proceeded to answer her own question, meanwhile, detailing the process of what becomes of excess donations. Continuing her clip from inside a warehouse, Rachel reported: “Every day, warehouses like this sort through literal tonnes – and the volume isn’t slowing down.”
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So what happens next? Rachel claimed that globally, we are generating 92 million tonnes of waste per year – the equivalent of one truckload dumped every second. Rachel continued: “Fashion is responsible for up to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – more than flights and shipping combined. Here in the UK alone, we send around 350,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill every year.”
Concluding, she advised her followers to pause for a moment before making their next donations, and to consider the quality of the goods. “Is it clean, wearable, could someone actually use it?” she suggested. “Clothes banks are full – don’t leave it outside. Wait, rethink, reuse – we don’t need more waste, we just need change.”
In the final part of her video, Rachel illustrated how even the warehouses are full to bursting point too, with bags of clothes piling high in pens, shockingly refilled within an hour of being emptied. “Look how much these volunteers have to go through every single day,” Rachel acknowledged.
Shocked, one TikTok user penned in response: “Wow this is mind blowing statistics… and resellers still getting negative comments. Brilliant video Rachel. Thank you for sharing.”
A second person agreed: “It’s absolutely mind-blowing the general public has no idea just HOW bad it is.”
A third individual depressingly revealed: “We have a clothing collection point in my estate outside of our little shop, to be honest I’ve never seen anyone empty it, but it must be full as yesterday there was numerous bags piled on top. It’s been pouring with rain all night here so they will all be ruined now. Such a shame!”
A fourth TikTok user exclaimed: “Take it back home try again another day, or take to a charity shop…bl**dy simple… don’t just leave it there.”
Whilst a fifth said: “People leave stuff outside a local charity shop by me and they aren’t allowed to accept it. I sometimes see people going through it but the next day it always gets collected by council for landfill.”
Backing up Rachel’s stats, Waste Managed states: “Globally, the fashion industry produces around 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually. This contributes significantly to environmental pollution, with the industry responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions.
“We consume 62 million tonnes of textiles per year. By 2030, this is expected to reach 102 million tonnes. The fashion industry accounts for 8.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.”
Salvation Army has been approached for comment.
