Woman's Hour today - why you should give old bras and anything else to Oxfam

[MrsMuddles]

Really interesting report on Oxfam shops and how they deal with donated clothing. Apparently bras are really in demand because in developing countries there's a shortage (mainly because they are complicated to manufacture). So there's a ready market for secondhand ones. I had always thrown away my bras, thinking nobody would want to buy a s/h one, not to mention that the likes of ebay won't accept secondhand underwear, but have just sorted out four that can be taken down now.

The clothes are sorted first for resale in UK shops, or ebay if valuable/vintage; then the remainder are either baled up and sold to small dealers in developing countries, or at the last they are sold for fibre recycling which Oxfam also get paid for.

I thought this was excellent, previously I had looked at cast offs and thought, perhaps it wouldn't be saleable in a charity shop so had binned them, but now I will pass on everything as it's unlikely to be wasted.

That's good to know. I often wonder what to do with clothes that are looking too worn out. This makes a lot of sense.

Thats interesting. I had a sort out of my bra's the other day and have a pile I wasn't sure what to do with. Too old, too small, too manky looking....I shall pass them on now, thanks.

Yes, I listened to thsi and thought it was very worth knowing.

There is a downside to this though - in some countriesthe second hand clothing market has ruined the local clothing manufacturing industry with long term detrimental affects.

Yes I listened to the same report and thought that I would give away lots of bras and start a thread on here.

there is a bra recycling box round here, i wondered where they would go.

Arctic, I expect you are right, there is always a downside. On the report they particularly mentioned Africa, maybe it's more places like India where there is a textile tradition. Bra's were an example of something that can't be manufactured locally, it seems.

I do feel, though, that anything which reduces the shocking waste in our Western society must be worth pursuing.

Arctic, I expect you are right, there is always a downside. On the report they particularly mentioned Africa, maybe it's more places like India where there is a textile tradition. Bra's were an example of something that can't be manufactured locally, it seems.

I do feel, though, that anything which reduces the shocking waste in our Western society must be worth pursuing.

There is also this charity
www.breasttalk.co.uk/bra-appeal/
which I read about before om MN where you can dontate your old bras.

MrsMuddles, thank you for bringing this up,it's enlightening and helpful I would never have donated bras but now I shall (I have a habit of buying bras that look great but don't actually fit me properly )

I donate bras and worn out clothes to Oxfam - but decent, hardly worn stuff I take to the Sally Army bin - I'd rather it went straight to a family in need than potentially picked over by a middle class person (like me) looking for a bargain.

I recently gave all my pre-baby bras to Breastalk. But I donate my old clothes to charity. And tend to buya lot of second hand clothes. I agree with MrsMuddles' sentiment, there is just so much STUFF in the world.