Donating Clothes Isn’t The Solution

Did you know that the average amount of times we wear clothing before throwing it away is 7? American saviorism deludes us to believe that “people in need will wear my old clothes” but what’s actually happening is the Global South becomes the dumping ground for the lifestyle and convenience of the Global North. This exploitation has turned Asia into a garment dump.

So what can we actually do? Prioritize consuming less, elongating the lives of the clothes we have by repairing and mending, wearing hand-me-downs, buying used, and repurposing old clothes. Donating our clothes isn’t superior thinking disguised as a good deed. And outside of making changes to our own wardrobe, here’s how we can hold the perpetrators of waste colonialism accountable.

Host
Sophia Li

Producer
Stephanie Tangkilisan
Sophia Li

Associate Producer
Manal Ahmed

Researcher and Writer
Sophia Li

Additional Researcher
Manal Ahmed

Director of Photography
Alison Boya Sun

Editor
Alan Pun

Post Production Coordinator
Skolastika Lupitawina

Editor-in-Chief
Keshia Hannam

Head of Production
Stephanie Tangkilisan

Animator
Alan Pun

Graphic Design
Samuel Kang
Fitra Pratama
Annie Zhao

Additional Archival Material
Getty Images
@CeceXie
Netflix
@ZeroWasteCartel
Artlist
@SummerJade
Insider Business
TikTok/bibty.fashionrental
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The New York Times
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Additional Music
Life as We Make it by Olive Musique
Winds of Change by A-List Music