AIBU?
Aibu to take things from outside the clothes bank
Untamedfemale · 14/10/2022 11:43
Just what the title says my kids need clothes and there are always bags of them outside the clothes bank a lot of people seem to go through them and they often end up on the floor etc so do you think ibu to have a look through and take some.
Am I being unreasonable?
AIBUYou have one vote. All votes are anonymous.
viques · 14/10/2022 12:27
Untamedfemale · 14/10/2022 11:55
Yes I never actually take the stuff outside and literally only get kids clothes and a few toys etc
Ihatethenewlook · 14/10/2022 11:52
I’d see no problem with this whatsoever. The charities are hardly desperate for donations when they’re letting their clothes banks overflow to the point people are chucking their bin bags all over the pavements. The ones outside are likely to get water damaged or even covered in dirt if the bags get ripped, they’ll just end up going to the rag man if not the bin. I wouldn’t take stuff out the banks themselves, but out of the bags on the floor, definitely.
So this isn’t a one off, it’s a regular thing you are doing?
badassbaby · 14/10/2022 12:28
redskyhaze · 14/10/2022 12:26
Would you walk into a charity shop, pick something off the rail and walk out with it? No?
Then OBVIOUSLY this is not OK. These are clothes that people have left there to be donated, not for any randomer to pick up.
But that's not what she's doing is it?
Smartstuffed · 14/10/2022 12:28
YellowTreeHouse · 14/10/2022 12:24
YABVU. You are stealing from the charity - it’s really that simple.
However desperate you are, stealing is never okay, and to do so from a charity is abhorrent.
That's righteous BS. If clothes left outside on the ground aren't going to be taken by the charity then they are fair game for anyone.
BeanStew22 · 14/10/2022 12:28
Untamedfemale · 14/10/2022 12:18
I always put things back properly I don’t leave it all on the floor
vivainsomnia · 14/10/2022 12:16
So there ends up with clothes scattered all over the ground whilst people shift through it, black bags ripped all over, foxes and cats coming to wee or poo in it.
Yeah, it's a great idea!
Then it’s totally fine: people have donated these things to be used!
Obviously it would be ‘better’ if they could be sorted etc but in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal at all
CourtneeLuv · 14/10/2022 12:28
viques · 14/10/2022 12:27
So this isn’t a one off, it’s a regular thing you are doing?
Untamedfemale · 14/10/2022 11:55
Yes I never actually take the stuff outside and literally only get kids clothes and a few toys etc
Ihatethenewlook · 14/10/2022 11:52
I’d see no problem with this whatsoever. The charities are hardly desperate for donations when they’re letting their clothes banks overflow to the point people are chucking their bin bags all over the pavements. The ones outside are likely to get water damaged or even covered in dirt if the bags get ripped, they’ll just end up going to the rag man if not the bin. I wouldn’t take stuff out the banks themselves, but out of the bags on the floor, definitely.
What difference does that make? The charity won't take it and it would go to landfill or to be burnt. Why shouldn't op take ut if she needs it?
AuntSalli · 14/10/2022 12:29
Untamedfemale · 14/10/2022 11:49
If there are things all over the floor I don’t see the problem we are in in desperate times
As someone who donates to our clothes bank I personally would have no issue with you taking whatever you need that’s why I sent it there.
viques · 14/10/2022 12:31
CourtneeLuv · 14/10/2022 12:28
What difference does that make? The charity won't take it and it would go to landfill or to be burnt. Why shouldn't op take ut if she needs it?
viques · 14/10/2022 12:27
So this isn’t a one off, it’s a regular thing you are doing?
Untamedfemale · 14/10/2022 11:55
Yes I never actually take the stuff outside and literally only get kids clothes and a few toys etc
Ihatethenewlook · 14/10/2022 11:52
I’d see no problem with this whatsoever. The charities are hardly desperate for donations when they’re letting their clothes banks overflow to the point people are chucking their bin bags all over the pavements. The ones outside are likely to get water damaged or even covered in dirt if the bags get ripped, they’ll just end up going to the rag man if not the bin. I wouldn’t take stuff out the banks themselves, but out of the bags on the floor, definitely.
I was more commenting on the gradual drip feed. Try reading all the OPs posts using the “see all” function.
mam0918 · 14/10/2022 12:31
Twawmyarse · 14/10/2022 11:57
I always leave stuff outside charity shops as there’s nowhere to park and I can’t usually get there during opening hours - the thought of people taking that stuff doesn’t bother me at all - they must be pretty desperate to do so and at the end of the day I don’t want it anymore. What general area are u in op? And how old are the dc’s? I’d be happy to send u some stuff if I have anything age appropriate?
Thats called flytipping and is illegal, it can cost charities money and every charity says NOT to do it.
You stuff isnt going to help anyone, if stuff has been left out in the elements they cant use it and it gets binned.
Sheer laziness to break the law and cause extra work for a charity.
Echobelly · 14/10/2022 12:32
YANBU - we live opposite the back of a charity shop and people dump tonnes of stuff outside it when it's shut and they have to chuck all of it out. I suspect the clothes banks also don't pick up anything not in the containers.
Someone left masses of really valuable lego on the street sort of near the charity shop the other day late at night so DH and I took it in and are redistributing it among various local charity shops (the whole lot would be a burden to just one shop I reckon)
PissedOffNeighbour22 · 14/10/2022 12:32
You could put a 'wanted' post on freecycle. We get them on our local one all the time asking for X age kids clothes and toys.
No one will know who you are and if you don't get many replies no harm done.
I'd have no issue with people going through the bags as long as they don't leave things strewn all over the place getting ruined (as happens in my town). I'm pretty sure most of those clothes just get sold abroad by weight anyway. What people think they're achieving by filming you, god only knows 🙄.
redskyhaze · 14/10/2022 12:33
Cheesybreadnom · 14/10/2022 12:23
Maybe not a popular opinion. But this is the reason they are being donated. If I put clothes in a charity drop off point, I don’t mind how they are used so long as they go to someone who needs them.
If your children are going to be cold or wet or going without something they need then yes you should take them, because your children need them.
Also if your donating £10 a month to charity but struggling yourself, you should keep that £10 for now. It sounds like you need that for your children and don’t feel guilty about it.
If anyone can just walk by in the street and pick up stuff they fancy, the clothes are not actually going to the most needy.
Anyone could just see a nice item that they fancy and nab it, when actually they could have afforded to buy one.
This means that another person - a person who's actually in desperate need and would have got the clothes through the charity - is then denied that item.
There are plenty of ways to get free or very cheap children's clothes (Facebook, Freecycle etc) so I don't know why you would feel the need to do this.
CourtneeLuv · 14/10/2022 12:33
viques · 14/10/2022 12:31
I was more commenting on the gradual drip feed. Try reading all the OPs posts using the “see all” function.
CourtneeLuv · 14/10/2022 12:28
What difference does that make? The charity won't take it and it would go to landfill or to be burnt. Why shouldn't op take ut if she needs it?
viques · 14/10/2022 12:27
So this isn’t a one off, it’s a regular thing you are doing?
Untamedfemale · 14/10/2022 11:55
Yes I never actually take the stuff outside and literally only get kids clothes and a few toys etc
Ihatethenewlook · 14/10/2022 11:52
I’d see no problem with this whatsoever. The charities are hardly desperate for donations when they’re letting their clothes banks overflow to the point people are chucking their bin bags all over the pavements. The ones outside are likely to get water damaged or even covered in dirt if the bags get ripped, they’ll just end up going to the rag man if not the bin. I wouldn’t take stuff out the banks themselves, but out of the bags on the floor, definitely.
The op asked if its OK to take stuff from outside the clothes bin. Yes or no. How often she does it is irrelevant to her question.
redskyhaze · 14/10/2022 12:33
badassbaby · 14/10/2022 12:28
But that's not what she's doing is it?
redskyhaze · 14/10/2022 12:26
Would you walk into a charity shop, pick something off the rail and walk out with it? No?
Then OBVIOUSLY this is not OK. These are clothes that people have left there to be donated, not for any randomer to pick up.
Yes because people have left those clothes there to be donated. It's basically the same thing - depriving the charity of income.
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