The trip to the Red Hill Salvation army store was an overwhelming eye opener. Witnessing first hand the tedious process of sorting through mass donations, it is hard comprehending the amount of consumerism and disposal that happens in our society. We were given the tour of the processesing warehouse where the Salvos receive (literally) tonnes of donations weekly, that are then sorted and overseen by quality control. The effort is immense, and I have nothing but admiration for the team of volunteer workers who give up their time to aide this eternal process.
I think the most surprising thing about the trip was disproving my pre-dispositions on shopping at second hand stores. Perhaps it is because I don't really have an eye for vintage shopping...everytime I try to do the whole retro thing, I end up regretting and reselling my pieces. Over the years, whenever I've done a wardrobe clean out I've always culled at least 3 large boxfuls worth of clothing, and I've always given them to the local charity and secondhand shops. But funnily enough, after you see exactly how much clothing comes back to these charities and the processes involved in sorting through it all, it makes you question your actions and I've definately reconsidered my position in the textile lifecycle.
I actually did a clean out of my wardrobe that afternoon when I came home, which took me longer than usual because I had to double think everything I was culling, making sure there was absolutely no use for the items to be in my closet anymore. But it was a good process. Kind of like ethical detoxing! I also noticed that some of my more recent purchases, whilst they weren't of the vintage retro type, were of better quality in terms of durability and also transeasonally. So that's positive, subconsciouslly I am already shopping for things which I know I won't be throwing away anytime soon...
Anyhow, the 5 items I picked out of the store to use in my garment calculated up to the $100 allowance exactly. Cool.
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