Educate Yourself! : Used Clothing in the Developing World.

by Todd Paynich MA, PCV

I know. You are going to ask, How did you get sidetracked on what appears to be a small issue? And really, how does it affect us in America, and the rest of the developed world?

In order to shed some light on this issue, first I need to explain what happened to precipitate the construction of my soapbox.

It started during the first few weeks of my being here in Ethiopia. We were in Pre Service Training (PST) and I was walking to my morning language class when I saw a man walking towards me, in a stretched out and threadbare Curves t-shirt.  At that point, I became more aware of the proliferation of used t-shirts, hoodies, etc. as I began to see these items featuring various American musical acts that Ethiopians would have never heard of, assorted American college and university names and logos, and later, after training, a bright orange Gillette Fusion razor t-shirt with the Meijer name and logo on it. What made this my crusade, though, was seeing a Catholic Central/West Catholic All A’s Classic shirt here in Axum. (Catholic Central is in Grand Rapids Michigan, and the high school I graduated from.)

Since then, I have seen t-shirts from Calvin Christian and Forest Hills Eastern High Schools; race t-shirts from the Allegan Bridge Run, various Gus Macker events, and even Aquinas College and Michigan State University intramurals. So West Michigan has an overabundance of t-shirts and hoodies that find their way to Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. only to end up here.

I am sure many of you are asking yourselves, ‘I still don’t see why this is a big deal? We donate our used clothes to local charities and they make the best use of those items.’ What you aren’t seeing is Ethiopian textile and manufacturing facilities who are forced to compete against these cheap items. You don’t know that the Almeda Textile Plant in Adwa (the next town over) is unable to hire and train an additional 200 people because of the sheer volume of used clothing that is available in the Axum and Adwa markets. You don’t see the farmers who could earn 3 to 5 times more for their harvest by planting cotton instead of sewing the limited number of vegetables that grow here in the Tigray region.

If local numbers don’t impress upon you the need for growing local industry in the developing world, maybe these numbers will:

Ethiopia’s unemployment rate as of the end of the 2013 fiscal year was 17.5% and Ethiopia reported a trade deficit of 1.2 billion dollars for the same period.

Additionally, nearly 70% of the population in Ethiopia is under the age of 30, with joblessness in that group accounting for over 30% of unemployment totals. These numbers underscore the need for businesses that can offer large-scale employment in Ethiopia, with textile and leather goods manufacturing offering the most benefit in the shortest amount of time.

We are in essence, blinded by an act of charity.  We are willfully unaware that these charities take our donated items, turn them into bales and sell them to wholesalers who in turn ship thousands of containers of used clothes to developing countries.

What makes this situation worse is when we (we meaning people in developed countries) provide the capital in the form of targeted microloans to individuals in developing countries to start used clothing stores.  We as Americans are so inspired by the stories of these determined entrepreneurs, that we overlook the negative impact to the regional and global economies caused by our facilitating these ventures.

You are probably asking, what are some solutions?

These are my suggestions, and I’m sure you will be able to add to the list.

First, before you donate these items, ask if there isn’t a use for them in your home beyond the original function. Growing up, my family turned old t-shirts into rags for cleaning.  Since when do we need to buy rags to mop the floors in our homes or wash our cars?

Another way to “dispose” of these items is to never create them in the first place. As an example, is it really necessary for Gillette to send out thousands of shirts to retailers to promote their products? What about those nights you are out and any number of beverage manufacturers are giving away t-shirts that the recipient will never wear?  Or when you are at a sporting event where the team mascot shoots promotional t-shirts out of a cannon? And what about all of those brightly colored t-shirts that distinguish who the volunteers are at events in your community? Will you ever wear a fluorescent green shirt with the words volunteer screened across the back again? Ask yourself, where will this item eventually end up? Push these organizations to find better ways to market their products, or designate who can answer questions.

Another solution, (and this runs contrary to our gotta-have-it culture) is to ask yourself, do I or someone in my family REALLY need that t-shirt? As someone who has always been a conspicuous consumer, I have a better idea of how my purchasing decisions affect the world around me, and there will be considerable thought as to how I spend money and make donations in the future.

Lastly, lobby those groups who sell your donated products to these wholesalers to find other ways of generating revenue from excess donations.  There has to be another use. But airing your concern is not enough; you should help them find it.

As I step off my soapbox, I hope I have given you a reason to give more thought to your purchasing and donation decisions.