As a thrift shopping aficionado, I prefer almost any other thrift shop over Value Village, but for practical reasons, I visited two separate locations (and some other thrift stores) on Earth Day 2015.
At the first store, I was greeted gregariously by a young man in a bright green t-shirt bearing the OFCP (Ontario Federation of Cerebral Palsy) logo. He was standing next to a pressed bale of clothing.
Already knowing the answer, I asked the obviously proud young man where the bale was going.
Already knowing the answer, I asked the obviously proud young man where the bale was going.
“Africa,” he announced.
A few years ago, some like-minded friends and I inquired about purchasing one of these bales of clothing for upcycling projects. We all had upcycling businesses at the time. Value Village absolutely refused to deal with us, under any circumstances, not by the bale, not by the pound, no negotiating, no exceptions.
Bales like these should never have the opportunity to happen in the first place, but in our throw away consumer society they do, and in huge numbers. Why not use them to generate local economic growth? Why not sell them to local artisans who would ensure little waste as possible is left? Upcycling artisans are experts at this. We would even be thrilled with C grade bales, the stuff that ends up as rags or in the dumpster.
Yet Value Village would rather ship their waste to “developing” countries.
Africa does not need our waste. It seems so stupidly obvious that it’s almost awkward making the statement. They don’t need our “too junky for us Canadians so you can have it” crap. Much has been written about this practice, no need to elaborate here.
Many many bales of clothing do end up in African markets, both new and used, and with the upcycle industry booming more and more bales are being diverted to local artisans, but not our local Value Village stores.
And then they brag about it.
Not only are they proud of this, but while in both stores on Earth Day, they repeatedly proclaimed over the PA how they pay the OFCP for each donation Value Village receives. They make themselves sound like a charity. They are in no way a charity.
Is this exploitation? Or good business sense? Both?
Have you ever heard any other for profit thrift shop make such claims?
We associate thrift shops with charity. The majority, thankfully, are charities, and while they are often not as glamorous as Value Village or other for profit used clothing chains, they are close enough. More importantly, the benefits of shopping at a charity shop extend beyond the beneficiaries of the charity to the shopper as no sales tax is charged. It’s a charity.
There’s nothing stopping us from donating clothing and household items directly to OFCP. They would get more money for it, and it would save them money as well.
Why would I donate to a company that is not a charity, where donations directly to the charity they partner with would benefit the charity much more, which does not support our local artisans and economy, and who sends literally tons of these donations they keep asking for to developing countries where they often cause rather than solve problems?
Sadly, clothing bales are a serious problem, no matter which store generates them, thrift or retail, and thrift shopping is better for the environment than retail, I get that, but the false sense of satisfaction one gets when shopping, and even more so when donating to Value Village is deplorable.
Perhaps instead of bragging about how environmentally responsible and charitable they are, Value Village could repeatedly suggest some of the above options over the PA.
Do you have something to donate? My personal favourite is the MCC (Mennonite Central Committee). Please find out more at https://donate.mcccanada.ca/.
mongofo 