Annotated Bibliography
Cline, Elizabeth L. "The Salvation Army Probably Can’t Use Your Clothes." Slate. 18 June 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
In “The Salvation Army Probably Can’t Use Your Clothes,” Elizabeth Cline is arguing how our old clothes become unworn or underused. She informs that in New York, there’s a Salvation Army discussing the amount of clothes that are distributed. An average of about 11,200 garments a day. People don’t chose to wear clothes that are not in or unpopular, so they end up in the back of our closets with the tags still remaining. Many of our clothes end up neglected or underused because of this. “According to a 2010 national survey in SmartShop magazine, one in four American women own seven pairs of jeans, but we only
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wear four of them regularly.” The Salvation Army in New York has a room that’s filled with unwanted clothes that increase every three days but this is only a small portion of the other Salvation Army locations in the United States. There are people out in the world that will accept unwanted clothes. Charities sell unwanted clothes to people who are not wealthy or even poor. Without the use of textile recyclers, the charities would be forced to throw away the unwanted clothes causing waste. It’s said that a majority of our donated clothes don’t make it so they’re sold overseas just for its fiber material. They are then sorted, tied up, and sold to used-clothing vendors. Many countries including Africa receive these donated clothes to be worn not in demand but in quality also. This article will be very useful in my essay because it will help get my topic over where donating clothes can or cannot be donated. It will help me provide examples of individuals who don’t where their new clothes and leave them sitting in their closet with the tags still on. Many alternative solutions can help put my essay together to give not just problems but a way to help solve them. “Without textile recyclers, charities would be totally beleaguered and forced to throw away everything that couldn’t be sold. Charities might even have to turn us away. “Unworn clothes aren’t immediately thrown out like other disposable products. Instead, they accumulate in our closets or wherever we can find space for them.” Indvik, Lauren. "What Really Happens to Your Clothing Donations?" Fashionista. 20 Jan. 2016. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. In “What Really Happens to Your Clothing Donations,” Lauren Indvik discusses how there are many alternative solutions on where you can remove your old clothes. For example, American Eagle Outfitters have asked shoppers to donate their used clothes in exchange for a coupon on their jeans. It may not be much but the outcome can help with where the clothes could end up. The donations head to I:CO which resells the secondhand clothing and all the earnings are then donated to the Student Conservation Association, giving something in return that is needed. Another example is a retailer called Madewell that has partnered with Blue Jeans Go Green, persuading shoppers to drop off their unwanted jeans that will be turned into housing insulation for those in need. The denim is turned into insulation and is donated to partner charities like Habitat for Humanity. With these alternative solutions, we can make something out of the world without trying to destroy it by abandoning our old clothes and turning them into a source that could be needed. This article will be very helpful in my essay because using different clothing companies as examples can give my audience reasons why these stores are making this change and why you should also. It will give me detailed examples of how the unused clothing gets recycled or turned into different products. “The vast majority 85 percent, or 12 million tons of unused textiles are carted off directly to U.S. landfills each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.” “Despite the obvious surplus in secondhand clothing, more donation and recycling programs seem to be popping up in the U.S. every year frequently led by retailers.” Milner, Graham. "Understanding the Impact of Donated Clothes." WhyDev. 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 06 Apr. 2016. In “Understanding the Impact of Donated Clothes,” Graham Milner discourses that bulk-clothing exports and how they are ways of growing a country’s exports.
He’s trying to clarify that selling clothes are a way to raise the country’s exports. Donating clothes gives people a way to get rid of their unused or unwanted clothing. Now they are places to drop your donated clothes including bins at grocery stores or being picked up from a truck. With higher exports there’s a greater demand for the goods and the higher the import, the more consumption there will be. In conclusion, there are rules by the World Trade Organization regulating these practices against dumping or exporting price manipulation. They say that this can be costly, time-consuming, and unfair. The United States is at around $1/kg and when you add how poor the quality is of the clothes, the price then seems high. In Africa, the costs for t-shirts is around $0.20 and $2-$5 for a dress shirt. The seller of the clothes will likely leave their business and start selling the imported clothes. The supply chain becomes never ending and the individuals are either out of a job or living in poverty. Working conditions for these people can also be dangerous. “In Kampala, Uganda, the main market burns down so often it barely makes the news anymore.” Not only are these situations bad, but all the money that’s burned away is now gone, forcing people needing cash or restocking their inventory. This article will help me with my essay because how your donated clothes can help others who are in need. Giving statistics will help the audience perceive a visual view of how serious this situation is with examples of how dangerous it can be in countries including
Africa. “Americans tend to send much less of their $636 million exports of used clothes to Africa, instead shipping more to Central America. Tanzania is only their sixth most popular destination.” “The Salvation Army sells its merchandise in its own stored. Many homeless shelters or shelters for abused families donate these clothes directly needy individuals in your communities.” Petru, Alexis. "After the Thrift Store: What Happens to Your Donated Clothes?" Triple Pundit. 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. Alexis Petru of “After the Thrift Store: What Happened to Your Donated Clothes,” discusses how clothing companies can create alternatives on reusing or recycling clothes to help decline the waste of unwanted clothes. For example, the jean company Levi Strauss received over 15,500 pairs of unused jeans, which were sent to Goodwill stores for this campaign and during the 49ers and Rams football game from 2014. This was to help fund Goodwill’s job training program. As for profit and nonprofit stores, they have what is called a strong financial incentive to sell as much of the used clothing as possible. The store Goodwill operates 3,000 stores not only in the U.S. but in Canada, where they raise revenue for financial education and youth mentoring also. Goodwill has these centers where clothes are donated and sent by the pound, but not all of these stores have the center, making it hard to earn money. Using these centers though can even help people find jobs. This article will be helpful in my essay because it gives situations where donations came in handy and helped make a change for individuals, including the Levi Strauss campaign at the 49ers and Rams game. Another reason is for the situations at Goodwill will give the audience a look on how the company works with donated clothes and where they end up. “Approximately 20 percent of unwanted clothing and textiles is processed back into basic fiber, which is then remanufactured to make furniture stuffing, upholstery, residential insulation and more.” “Any leftover clothing items are sold to textile recycling companies again, raising money for Goodwill’s work, as well as keeping this material out of the landfill.” Rodgers, Lucy. "Where Do Your Old Clothes Go? - BBC News." BBC News. 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. Lucy Rodgers’ article titled “Where Do Your Old Clothes Go?” discusses the aptitudes of where your unused clothes may end up. United Kingdom shares that their old clothes will either end up in a new home or in an incineration plant because of all the unwanted clothes piling up, causing waste. “A poll that states 30 percent in average wardrobe has not been worn in a year and 140 million pounds worth of clothing goes to landfill each year.” When you ponder around it, a lot of people don’t take advantage of what they have in their closets and favor wearing what they have is more popular or in style as of right now. The clothes that are not worn practically at all are just captivating up space. Much of UK’s donated clothing end up being sold to consumers in developing economies. The article is specifying how the effect of old clothes can make an impact for subordinate countries including Asia and Africa, just to name a few. This article will be fairly useful for my essay because it gives me some worthy material to add and the statistics will give the audience a visual view. The beginning of the article gives the background over where old clothes end up, giving me an enhanced understanding on how to incorporate it into my paper. “Since the 1980s and 90s, used clothing has gained a significant market share across Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe,” “The UK is the second largest used clothing exporter after the US. It exported more than $600 million worth of our discarded fashion overseas in 2013.
Bob Jeffcott supports the effort of workers of the global supply chains in order to win improved wages and good working conditions and a better quality of life of those who work on sweatshops. He mentions and describes in detail how the conditions of the sweatshops are and how the people working in them are forced to long working hours for little money. He makes the question, “we think we can end sweatshops abuses by just changing our individual buying habits?” referring to we can’t end the abuses that those women have by just stopping of buying their products because those women still have to work those long hours because other people are buying their product for less pay or less money. We can’t control and tell what you can buy or what you can’t because that’s up to the person...
...d up in Salvation Army bins. The U.S. textile recycling industry enables Africans to dress well for very little money. In 2003, used clothing was by far America’s largest export to Tanzania, and it ranked fourth worldwide as a customer for America’s castoffs, with competition from countries such as Beijing, and the Republic of the Congo.”
The Salvation Army prides itself in continuously offering needs based programs or service to communities that fall below the poverty line. The Salvation Army has a wide array of strengths including: 1) Professional networking; a channel through which ideas, resources and services can be exchanged between Salvation Army and other non-profit organizations 2) Global notoriety; the Salvation Army is a world-wide organization, sustained primarily through government funds and public donations 3) Longevity; a demonstrated history of success. This history of longevity affords them a positive, solid reputation in participating communities (The Salvation Army USA, 2018).
Look down at the clothes you're wearing right now, chances are almost every single thing you are currently wearing was made in a sweatshop. It is estimated that between 50-75% of all garments are made under sweatshop like conditions. Designers and companies get 2nd party contractors to hire people to work in these factories, this is a tool to make them not responsible for the horrendous conditions. They get away with it by saying they are providing jobs for people in 3rd world countries so its okay, but in reality they are making their lives even worse. These companies and designers only care about their bank accounts so if they can exploit poor, young people from poverty stricken countries they surely will, and they do. A sweatshop is a factory
Since the story uses a certain object, the Jacket, as the meaning of several issues, it primarily focuses on the narrator's poverty-stricken family. First of all, an example of the poverty is demonstrated when the narrator complains that the jacket "was so ugly and big that I knew I'd have to wear it a long time"(paragraph 3). It is clear that his lack of money was a problem in which he would have to keep the jacket because he could not afford a new one. The narrator then feels embarrassed and upset by the jacket by stating "I blame my mother for her bad taste and cheap ways"(paragraph 10). By mentioning his mother's "cheap" ways he is conveying that he is aggravated because of his mothers option to choose bad and ugly clothes in ord...
The quilts were pieced together by Mama, Grandma Dee, and Big Dee symbolizing a long line of relatives. The quilts made from scraps of dresses worn by Grandma Dee, Grandpa Jarrell’s Paisley shirts, and Great Grandpa Ezra’s Civil War uniform represented the family heritage and values, and had been promised to Mama to Maggie when she married. However, Dee does not understand the love put into the making of the quilts, neither does she understand the significance of the quilts as part of her family heritage. It is evident she does not understand the significance of the quilt, having been offered one when went away to college declaring them “as old-fashioned” and “out of style”. She does not care about the value of the quilts to her family, rather she sees it as a work of art, valuable as an African heritage but not as a family heirloom. She wants the quilts because they are handmade, not stitched with around the borders. She tells Mama, “Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!... She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use… But, they’re priceless!.. Maggie would put them on her the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!” (317). The quilt signifies the family pride and history, which is important to Mama. She makes the decision to give the quilt to Maggie who will appreciate it more than Dee, to whom she says, “God knows I been saving ‘em for long enough with
Clothing is a necessity that is need throughout life for protection and comfort, especially in a lifestyle that leads one to have direct contact with the outside environment and a life in the fields. With the low income that a sharecropper and his family had to work with, being fashionable was not one of their top priorities. Even having sufficient clothing at all was a struggle for the family. The clothing that they did have was “coarse, crude, and not warm enough” (Gentry 138). The typical attire for men was “denim overalls”, and...
...rn fifty and more years ago. Bits and pieces of Grandpa Jarrell's Paisley shirts. And one teeny faded blue piece . . . that was from Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War" (Walker, 65). These quilts, which have become an heirloom, not only represent the family, but are an integral part of the family. A concept in which Dee, could just not possibly understand. Mama then grasps the quilts out of Dee’s clutch and places them on Maggie’s lap, for Maggie knows that the quilts are personal and emotional rather than by any means financial (p.66). These quilts are for “Everyday Use.”
In China, Kelsey Timmerman spent time with a couple who worked at the Teva factory, traveled to the countryside to meet the couple’s son, insert name, who hasn’t seen his parents in three years due to his parents working long hours and it being expensive to take a train ride. In the US, the author visited one of a few clothing factories in the US to talk to the workers about his shorts, and the decrease of American garment factories. Timmerman wants the consumer to be more engaged and more thoughtful when mindlessly buying clothes. By researching how well the brands you want to buy from monitor their factories and what their code of ethics details, you can make a sound decision on if this is where you would want to buy your clothes. The author writes about brands that improve employers lives like SoleRebels, a shoe company who employs workers and gives them health insurance, school funds for their children, and six months of maternity leave. Brands like soleRebels that give workers benefits most factory workers have never even heard of help improve the lives of garment workers and future generations. From reading this book, Timmerman wants us to be more educated about the lives of garment workers, bridge the gap between consumers and manufacturers, and be a more engaged and mindful consumer when purchasing our
Keyes, Scott. “Everything You Think You Know About Panhandlers Is Wrong”. Think Progress. 30 Oct.
This article attracts audiences who are interested in the scientific process of garment manufacture, as well as the people who are interested in learning about the economic developments around the world. It gives a sense of familiarity to readers in America by explaining that the Planet Money T-shirt cotton was grown and picked in Mississippi. Then, the reporters gradually move the readers along by explaining al...
Starting in a West Texas cotton field, her T-shirt is brought to life in a Chinese factory; negotiated in Washington, DC; sold in a Walgreen 's drugstore in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.; and eventually makes its way to a used clothing market in Africa. Through the story of her T-shirt, Rivoli shows how the advocates and critics of globalization often oversimplify the issues behind international trade.
Globalization and industrialization contribute to the existence of sweatshops, which are where garments are made cheaply, because they are moving production and consumption of those cheap goods. Industrialization has enabled for global distribution, to exchange those goods around the world. They can also set apart the circumstances of consumption and production, which Western countries as mass consumers, are protected from of producers in less developed countries. These factories are usually located in less developed countries and face worker exploitation and changes in social structures. Technological innovation allows for machines to take the place of workers and do all the dirty work instead of workers doing hours of hard work by hand.
Relating to the Audience: According to Care2’s article about textile waste, “An average American throws away about 65 percent of clothing per year, and along with other textiles that gets thrown away, such as sheets and beddings, the total sums up to 14.3 million tons of textile waste per year.” (care2.com) There are many ways out there to help children across the world or even in your own neighborhood by donating your unwanted clothing, textiles, or materials through the organization, K.I.D.S.
Sustainable fashion offers various benefits to both the consumer and the entire environment. For instance, it is noted that the entire process of sustainable fashion is worthy for the globe. In most cases, the fashion industry leaves behind a huge environmental imprint ranging from the pesticides in growing cotton to the landfill impact of clothes that wear out and the energy needed to manufacture every piece. Therefore, deciding on organic fibers or sustainable fabrics made from bamboo can also reduce the quantity of carbon emitted and chemicals brought into people`s lives. This shows how sustainable fashion if embraced can bring benefits to the consumer, the producer, and to the environment, which is very vital for future generations. Selecting clothes that contain the label “fair trade act,” during purchase emphasizes on sustainability in numerous ways. The first thing is that, it guarantees that the product was produced under safe working conditions. Further, it signifies that the person who produced it earned a fair wage since it is sweatshop free (Hethorn 123). The act of purchasing clothes considered as “fair trade” confirms that individuals and places mean more than the organization`s fundamental reason for its