They are still collecting them locally. Especially good things for cold weather.

No question - true of a lot of things we purchase - many more than needed.

I live in a 100 year old house. Closets are modest - with the notion that a person had only a very modest wardrobe - maybe Sunday set of clothes, a couple of sets of work clothes and perhaps 1-2 things for casual wear.

Great grandparents would be shocked to see the variety of clothes we have.

Will read later. But years ago, heard that donated clothing was hurting craftspeople in poor countries. Yes, it's a problem...even worse now, I guess.

I'm not a big source of the problem. I can keep a T-shirt for two decades. My annual purchase of new clothing is miniscule. Fish takes second hand clothes in our area, so that "aftermarket" still exists for local use. People in need because of poverty, or because their house burned down are still grateful for the help.

Like P*D, I'm not clothes horse. Don't have a need for fancy duds and like my Dad used to be, I am perfectly comfortable putzing around the house in mended clothes that are showing their age.

The whole time I was growing up I was such a disappointment to my fashion conscious mother.

The lack of demand for the used clothes is a bummer, though I guess it's a sign of improving conditions if people are not so desperate that they'll take anything and can choose to be fussy about what they wear if they think it's not fashionable!

I think there is always a demand for "nice," vintage clothes. That old novelty t-shirt? not so much.

Mr. Nina and I don't do much in the way of clothes shopping/buying. I'm not a fashionista, and Mr. Nina literally has a pair of 40 year old sandals. Seriously. The soles must be made of steel. He got them in Israel in the mid 70s.

It helps that our work doesn't require much. Mr. Nina needs to sometimes wear suits, but a suit is a suit. He gets pretty standard ones (navy, blank, a small pinstripe) and wears them for years. I no longer work in a "power" job, so I can go to work in a pair of jeans, shirt/sweater and a blazer and be fine 99% of the time.

My daughter would be more of a fashionista if she could afford it. My son would happily wear the same pair of pants and black t-shirt every day if he could get away with it.

The cheap material and construction of many clothes is a huge problem. Most clothes are not built to last at all, and it's very frustrating. I don't need to be "fashionable" but I need to look appropriate and occasionally need to be more dressy. It can be very hard to find reasonably priced women's clothes that look nice, are comfortable and are built to last more than one season.

Our local Goodwill takes everything. No doubt some of the clones don't make it to the stores, but I think they are recycled.

In high school I worked in a felt factory. Old clothes were ground to shreds and the result shoveled into a machine that turned it into felt.

Don't know if that is still operative.

jf