Globalization of U.S.' thrift clothing

Hi readers,

This GOOD article was pretty eye-opening for me- as I never fully understood how the American-looking "vintage" clothes I would see all over Southeast Asia ended up there. And then there's Japan, a country whose obsession with American-style clothing I've read about quite often. Well, I guess the jig is up. We, Americans, are inadvertently donating our clothing to the vintage/thrift industry all over the world, or mostly Asia and developing countries in South America, Africa, and Asia. No-go for Europe? When we donate our last-season or fairly tattered clothing to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, slow-sellers are shipped overseas for second-secondary sales- tertiary sales.

I have an idea—how about cutting out the middle-man (Goodwill, etc.) and donating/selling our clothes directly to these second-hand clothing industries overseas? However, is this an endeavor worth pursuing since the profits would most likely go directly into the pocket of an unethical, immoral millionaire? Any readers know of a good nonprofit that's already involved in global recycling of clothes? I've read about the nonprofit organizations (such as this one) that send junk food wrappers, such as Starburst wrappers, to developing countries in Asia and South America to be remade into purses and such... but clothing?

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