This article was published in The Louisiana Weekly in the Oct. 3, 2011 edition.
In a rush to get organized, you may have tossed some old clothes in the garbage, only for them to end up in landfill. Had those threads been given to a thrift shop or charity, someone else might be wearing them now, or they could have been turned into other, useful products. And proceeds from their sale might have helped finance community projects.
New Orleans non-profit Bridge House Corp. uses its two thrift stores--one on Camp St. and a bigger one on Airline Drive--to raise funds for programs that treat drug and alcohol abuse. Nearly a quarter of Bridge House's budget comes from these shops, which sell household items in addition to clothes. Another 20 percent comes from its used car lot. Michel Ferrera, Bridge House's thrift stores director, said clothing sales are brisk.
Ferrera explained that thrift shops do the best they can with what they receive. "At our processing center in the city, bags of clothing--donated mostly by individuals--are opened, and between 20 and 80 percent of the contents are in good shape and sent to the floors of our stores."
When clothes arrive at Bridge House's processing center, "they're sorted, and items that are stained, too worn or have a broken zipper are bundled into huge bales, along with anything that hasn't sold on the floor," he said. Like many thrift-store operators, Bridge House sells these bales to dealers at between 5 and 15 cent a pound. "We get calls from dealers daily and work with the reliable ones, particularly those who pay by overnight check," he said. Any shoes, handbags and other leather goods that aren't store-worthy are also sold in bulk.
Ande Pena, vice president of United Textile, Inc., a 75-year old "converter" company in San Leandro, Ca., said prices the industry pays thrift shops for bales of clothes partly depend on seasonal factors. "A lot of clothes are donated to U.S. charities at the year-end holidays and during spring cleaning, so prices paid decline at those times," she said. United Textile grades up to 20 million pounds of material a year, and sells recycled clothing, towels, wiping products and rags, floor matting, and absorbents used for boom and oil spills.
Exporting used garments provided by charities and thrift shops is big business. Last year, the U.S. sent nearly $464 million worth of worn clothes to other countries, up from $375 million in 2009, according to the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's Office of Textiles and Apparel. Shipments in the first seven months of 2011 are running ahead of last year.
The top markets for used U.S. clothes in 2010 were Canada, Chile, Mexico, Guatemala and India but they weren't necessarily final destinations. Old clothes are sent to facilities in Canada, for example, where they're sorted and graded and then exported. African, Asian and Central American nations and the former Soviet republics all purchase loads of worn apparel.
Pena said charities that want jobs to stay in the U.S. should send their surplus clothes to companies that grade them in this nation. Some non-profits ship donated clothes directly to foreign dealers, and the grading is done overseas.
Meanwhile, at Bloomin' Deals Thrift Shop--run by the Junior League of New Orleans on Freret St. in Uptown--clothes move quickly and are restocked daily. JLNO President Dee McCloskey said "in our fiscal year that began in June, our sales, including clothes and household items, are up 10 to 12 percent over last year." Efforts to promote the store and increased traffic now that Freret St. has recovered from Hurricane Katrina have helped, she said.
On Bloomin' Deals floor, women and men can find career clothes, including gently used, name-brand suits for $14, McCloskey said. "We sell adult uniforms, such as medical scrubs, chef's pants and even tuxedos--which are worn in the restaurant industry." The store carries kids' clothes and some school uniforms, though many schools now have their own swaps and hand-me-down programs, she said. Clothing that isn't gently used or new is donated to the Volunteers of America.
"Twice a year--in early October and March--Bloomin' Deals has a one-day, Bag Day sale, where customers can fill a 33-gallon trash bag with as much as they can push, pull or carry for only $9," McCloskey said. "A line forms out front that morning, and all our merchandise is cleared out by midday." After a light cleaning, the store is restocked for the new season. This year's fall sale was held on Oct. 1.
Bloomin' Deals is the JLNO's top revenue earner, funding programs in literacy, career awareness, child nutrition, elderly services and housing renovation.
At the Salvation Army, proceeds from its thrift store on Jefferson Highway in greater New Orleans go directly to adult rehabilitation centers, according to the group's Major Charles Stewart. In addition to serving customers, the thrift shop honors vouchers given to those in need by the Salvation Army.
At Pelican Thrift and Furniture on So. Carrollton Ave., saleswoman Yvette Chapotel said "we've been here two years, and in that time we've had a lot of repeat customers. We have half off for seniors on Tuesday, and they come in to buy, chat and hang out." A section of the store is devoted to school uniforms.
Chapotel said "students from nearby Jesuit High come in for denim jackets, tee shirts and faddish clothes. Girls buy prom dresses. Our costume rack is swamped before Halloween."
Because of the city's Mardi Gras masking, New Orleanians aren't shy about entering thrift shops. At Bloomin' Deals, members of the JLNO--all 2,200 of whom volunteer in the store--are also the shop's best customers, McCloskey said.
And because of the slow economy and the green movement, recycled clothes have caught on nationwide. Hollywood celebrities wear used cloths, but tend to call their outfits "vintage" when dishing about them to reporters at the Academy Awards.
Nonetheless, too many clothes wind up in municipal waste. When asked if garments thrown in New Orleans trashcans head to landfill, Ryan Berni, Mayor Mitch Landrieu's press secretary, said "yes, they do."
In an alarming trend, textiles entering landfills nationwide grew sevenfold from 1960 to 2009, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the EPA's most recent data, 12.73 million tons of textiles were sent to municipal solid waste or MSW in the U.S. in 2009, but of that nearly 15% was recycled. Overall, the U.S. generated 243 million tons of MSW in 2009, with nearly 34% of it recycled or composted. EPA expects to release 2010 numbers late this year or early next year.
As many taxpayers know, one benefit of donating clothes is being able to claim a federal deduction. Ask for a receipt when you deliver donations to a thrift shop, and take a look at the Internal Revenue Service's publications on charitable contributions before filing your claim.
New Orleans thrift shop operators have a request: they need plus sizes. "We seem to have a lot of smaller ladies donating and bigger ladies as customers," Ferrera said. He also said "about 85 to 90 percent of the apparel donated to Bridge House are women's items. That's because men tend to wear their clothes out."