to wonder what other countries do with old stuff?

[OtraCosaMariposa]

Charity shops aren't a thing in many countries I've been too - certainly not in southern Europe. What is happening to all of the clothes, books, toys, bric a brac and other stuff which makes its way onto the shelves of charity shops here in the UK, Ireland, North America etc?

Obviously some countries just have less stuff. But I'm sure the French/Spanish spend the same way we do, broadly speaking.

We are in Spain now. We had some things we didn’t need so we leave them at the side of the communal bins. Most of the things had gone to new homes by the time we went past the bins again.

And for what it’s worth the bin men come daily in this part of Spain. Much prefer it to the UK.

There are charity shops in Spain where my parents live, although not as many as here.

I lived in Spain as a student and remember the bin men coming every morning then too. Wonderful.

Although throwing things away is not great in general. 11 million items of clothing go to landfill each week in the UK - what must be it like in Italy/France if there aren't second hand shops?

I don't know so just musing, but perhaps they buy less and more quality stuff so it is sold on in antique shops rather than charity shops. Drew Pritchard did a series of Salvage Hunters in France looking through antiques barns full to the rafters so they are definitely a thing.

That said on my last holiday in France I found the supermarkets all had mountains of disposable tat on offer a la ASDA so perhaps this will change.

There are clothes collections bins and Emmaus in France - a charitable organisation that gives unemployed people jobs sorting stuff.

I can only speak for Italy but I know in Milan a lot of waste is incinerated in an environmentally friendly way and used for heating the city (we visited the science museum recently!)

More people live in houses rather than flats so maybe we just buy less stuff? Clothes are really expensive compared to the UK and I think people make more of an effort to buy unisex for things like coats and boots and skiwear (we're from the alps) and then they get past round all the cousins. Facebook selling exists in Italy too.

What else? I think people still give old stuff to the church for the poor.

And finally (though this may well just be my relatives) no one buys pretty tupperware when an icecream tub would do...so dissapointing though to find the tub full of frozen herbs instead of gelato :(

I suspect there are class and regional variations to this like in the UK, my relatives are mainly from the North and rural.

*flats rather than houses is what I meant.

I mean the French do vintage fashion and antiques, so luxury used goods. I have been to markets in France and Portugal that sold second hand clothes, too. And factory outlet type shops all over continental Europe. Generally I've found my European friends less wasteful in general and/or more minimalistic, although I had a rich German friend who used to throw his clothes in the bin if they got marks on, scuffs on shoes or if somebody said they didn't like it (he was fairly rich and a bit vain, although I've seen plenty of Brits do similar things). I suppose a lot goes to the church, too, but I've not got first hand experience of that. In general most of our donated clothes end up crippling the textile industry in many African countries not sold off the shelf back to European citizens, but considerably more goes to landfill, with some going to direct textile recycling. I'm sure a lot gets incinerated too, or dumped in the ocean.

I mean the French do vintage fashion and antiques, so luxury used goods.

Well so do we here in the UK, to be fair. But French people (or Italian, Greek whatever) are shopping online or in H&M and Ikea just like we are. So what's happening to all that stuff? Not the good antique stuff. The old tat.

My husband is from another european country. From the people we've visted, I'd say there isn't as much throwaway fashion and they shop less for clothes, but maybe invest more in better quality stuff. They do use charity shops though. Also they dont have lots of different sets of clothes like in the UK we have suits for work, very casual clothes for home, clothes to get dressed up to go out. There work clothes tend to be a lot more casual and people will go clubbing in whatever they'd wear in the daytime

House stuff like furniture they dont seem as bothered about stuff matching (like mugs) or having a colour scheme or theme for the room. And they use stuff until its worn out rather than buying fashionable stuff. For example a kitchen will have a beautiful old carved wardrobe used as a pantry and beds are antique and obscure sizes! Furniture is passed through families. I've
Only visited maybe around 10 houses though so not a representative sample.

When we've been in Spain I've noticed stuff being left to one side next to the shared bin points in the street.

At first I thought it was someone rummaging through discarded bin bags of waste but then realised there was a separate pile of books, clothes and even a small coffee table.

I've also seen a few charity shops in towns there.

I've not noticed charity shops in Belgium, Germany or France though

My MIL is in Southern Europe. Decluttering is a huge issue - they just can't do it as there is nowhere to donate books, clothes, toys etc. MIL has a huge house and piles and piles of clutter because she has nowhere to put the clutter other than in the bin which she doesn't want to do.

@Ghostontoast we have an Emmaus near me in Bedfordshire

I’m in Africa, anything we want to get rid of I can give to my nanny who generally gives to her family or if it’s kids stuff then to her neighbours with kids. I feel less bad for buying stuff as I know it will get used by at least 3 families before falling to bits.

Emmaus started in France but it's been in THE UK for over 25 years. Brilliant idea.

@OtraCosaMariposa

I did go into that in the rest of my comment.

Spain is a bit behind the UK with recycling but it's catching up. Putting random stuff out by the bins is a bit of a no no, just as it would be in the UK, though people keep doing it.

Daily collections are fantastic though being woken in the early hours by the bin lorry wouldn't suit a lot of Brits!

There are British run charity shops in areas with an expat community, the Lions for example raise lots of money for local causes.

Starting to see more charity shops here in France and there is of course Emmaus which is where we send everything.

There are also dépôt de vente shops where you leave second hand stuff to sell and you get some money from it.

Kids clothes get handed down through families and friends. We had a winter coat one year that had already done 4 children and we passed it on to another family.

There is not the same imperative to change things so furniture, household goods etc keep going until they die.

Car boot sales are very popular so a lot of things like kids toys get passed on that way.

There aren't really many charity shops in Italy but there are charities that take things (furniture, clothes, baby equipment etc). They are often run by the church so are open to those in the know or advertised on church noticeboards. I have given a lot of stuff to our local one. It doesn't have a shop but it has a few rooms which are open at certain times and people can go and get what they need.

Usually donated to the church / mosque etc. Children’s things and furniture tend to be more expensive in Europe than the UK and so you often find that passed down amongst families when no longer needed. People tend to rent unfurnished houses there and often furnish them with stuff their families don’t need.

In parts of Africa they

• recycle absolutely everything - car tyres to shoe soles, wire to animals for children or tourists, bones for flutes/animal toys etc
• take our contaminated rubbish which poisons them
• take clothing and shoes which are often received with grace

And some re use what they can find for this
edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/10/05/malawi.wind.boy/