Guest article by Tansy Hoskins
I spent sixteen months working in a charity shop to research my new book Charity Shop World. Charity shops are hard work for the staff and volunteers – you deal with an endless avalanche of clothes and bric-a-brac and so much of it is torn, stained, worn or dirty. Here are my top tips to donating responsibly to help the charity shops we all love.
We’re all responsible for what ends up in charity shops so it is worth remembering that to find gems we must also donate gems. While resale apps might be having a moment, our charity shops won’t survive if all the good stuff is sold on Vinted so make sure to give gems to get gems.
When it comes to donating make sure your clothes are clean and mended, for top marks give them an iron and make it a fitting send off for once loved items. Charity shops do not have laundries and no one wants dirty clothes.
Make sure to clean your shoes before you donate them. Remove mud from the soles and dirt or scuffs from the uppers. Replace or wash the laces if needed. Donations should be your best attempt to do something good for the charity you donate to. Tie the laces together to stop the shoes being separated from each other.
The same goes for furniture and kitchenware: give it a clean before you donate it. It is not cool to donate dirty household items. Think to yourself, ‘Would I buy this from a charity shop?’ If the answer is no, put in the work to get the item to a saleable condition.
It’s also a good idea to call ahead and check whether your charity shop accepts items like furniture or electricals. If it doesn’t, find a different one, where your donation can be used wisely.
Be mindful of the seasons, especially if you are donating to a small shop. Put in the extra effort and store your winter items until it is autumn or winter, or your summer clothes until it is summer.
Never, ever dump donations outside a charity shop. They get rained on, weed on by dogs and torn open, as well as creating blockages and trip hazards. Check opening times online or call ahead. If a shop says it can’t take any more donations, please respect that.
Overall, this is about taking ownership of the space you occupy in the global waste stream. Don’t use your local charity shop like a dump but instead put in the effort to be a responsible citizen and use the experience to change how you consume and join campaigns for the right to repair and better wages and conditions for garment workers. Remember why you like the cause you are giving your donation to and be a valuable supporter.
‘Charity Shop World – an investigation into community, consumption and waste’ by Tansy Hoskins is out now and available from all good bookshops and online.