OMG! Whatever happened to recycle reduce reuse?
Posted by VegHeadZealia on Jan 08, 2009 · Member since Mar 2007 · 1665 posts
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story
I guess there's a new bill out to ban the sale of used children's items? The idea is to keep things safe for kids but the result it...if you ask me...a TON of waste! This is insane has anyone else heard of it?
That is going to hurt not only the businesses and landfills but the people who rely on thrift stores to clothe their kids within their budget. :( Horrible!
All because manufacturers are stupid enough to put things like lead charms on children's clothes. *boggle*
That is going to hurt not only the businesses and landfills but the people who rely on thrift stores to clothe their kids within their budget. :( Horrible!
All because manufacturers are stupid enough to put things like lead charms on children's clothes. *boggle*
Seriously!!! I found out about this on a foster parent support site (I'm not a creepy stalker,remember I work with foster children....) and the foster parents on there were concerned becasue you are only allowed to spend $150 a year on clothing for your foster children (give or take a little from state to state) There is NO WAY someone on a tight budget can afford to clothe their children in all new cloths! I know my parents certainly never could. We did almost all our shopping at the salvation army.
Yea, this is ridiculous.
If the companies would focus on making safe clothing, then it wouldn't be needed for used clothing..
Thrift stores are a big thing for people, especially to save money instead of buying all the new unnecessary fashion clothes.
You could so buy like 4 shirts for the price of one, if not more!
Probably their way of dealing with lagging sales - they will FORCE people to buy new... >:(
You can not force someone to buy new.
What would probably happen is circle of people would pull together to trade clothes.
Guess kind of like a underground Freecycle.
I love used clothes. I can afford new but choose not to. Like to conserve what money I have
In my area the thrift shops are always packed with shoppers especially family day at Salvation Army.
That's absolutely shocking. The amount of perfectly good stuff going into landfill makes me sick already and now they're not only dumping loads more, but they're hurting businesses and people on lower incomes. >:(
i read about this this morning too!! how awful!! to lose the one thrift store in my town would be such a shame, especially since its a family run business.
This is a national law right?! This is the first I've heard of this. It's insane. My son grows through stuff like a weed. I buy clothes practically new at a thrift store and donate the same stuff back still hardly worn. What a terrible waste.
wait a minuet...now I'm reading this....I thought the law was supposed to be retroactive? But this says otherwise, that resellers are exempt from the law???
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html
okay, that makes more sense now....
and parents should also make themselves aware when buying the used products... that would be helpful
Thanks for the update VHZ. I've been freaking out about this! I buy all used clothes for my kiddos!
I forgot about this earlier.
As a former Sears employee.
We used to take all the clothes that would not sell and they shredded them making them useless.
When I worked there I could control some of the clearance pricing so I would try and mark stuff down so it would sell. Managers then stopped that. So everything is a fixed clearance price and then it goes to the shredder.
Guess better to have the write off then maybe clothe the homeless or poor.
Do you think this could still lower the amount of items sold? I hope not, i basically live in the kids sections of thrift stores, hah.
I forgot about this earlier.
As a former Sears employee.
We used to take all the clothes that would not sell and they shredded them making them useless.
When I worked there I could control some of the clearance pricing so I would try and mark stuff down so it would sell. Managers then stopped that. So everything is a fixed clearance price and then it goes to the shredder.
Guess better to have the write off then maybe clothe the homeless or poor.
Wow, that is really sickening. Wouldn't they get the write off if they donate the clothing to a homeless shelter?
I forgot about this earlier.
As a former Sears employee.
We used to take all the clothes that would not sell and they shredded them making them useless.
When I worked there I could control some of the clearance pricing so I would try and mark stuff down so it would sell. Managers then stopped that. So everything is a fixed clearance price and then it goes to the shredder.
Guess better to have the write off then maybe clothe the homeless or poor.
not clothing, but your story reminded me of a day a few years ago when i was browsing around a goodwill in seattle.
i heard glass things breaking a few aisles away from me and peeked around the corner to find an employee chucking one picture frame after another into a large plastic waste bin on wheels. i asked the woman why the items were being broken and trashed, and she told me that once an item is marked down to their lowest price and doesn't sell on the final day of that colored-tag's sale date... it all gets trashed and must be broken/destroyed so that no one can dig it out of their dumpster. i asked if, since it was all being broken and trashed anyway... if i could take a few of that day's colored tag items for myself before they got broken. she informed me that they were not allowed to do that. it's a goodwill company policy not to give free items to people who want them or might be able to use them because they MUST be destroyed since they didn't bring in a profit for the company! i was in disbelief for a few weeks after that.
:boooo:
i always thought of thrift stores as an excellent entity in the reduce-reuse-recycle chain. it still does help... but i have a whole new outlook on them now. :blankstare:
In the retail world that is true.
Destroy and toss it out.
I have thrown $1000 + Doors in the garbage.
Even me working in the store I can not take stuff.
A few stores I contract with know me pretty well and look the other way.
I think the loss is worth more to them than donating.
I know! This society is pretty sick in general.
I read an article once about how restaurants would dump bleach on their trash just so that the homeless couldn't eat it!
I mean, I understand if they don't want people picking through the trash but jeez,
its not like homeless people are going to be much competition to these corporate b-turds by simply eating or having food.
It only helps, its not like they'd lose or gain anything.
I really don't understand people.
This whole thing pisses me off. When I worked at Barnes and Noble Cafe, we would throw out whole cakes and stuff. They would rather waste it than let someone have it for free. As employees, we weren't even allowed to drink plain coffee for free. Profit is the only concern. Now, the hfs where I work is completely different. We mark down items that are close to expiration, then if they don't sell, they get put in the "Staff bin." I haven't bought soymilk since I've worked there. Ha. Every couple weeks or so, a man from "Food Not Bombs" comes to pick things out of the staff bin. I love it.
Wow, I really like that idea of the 'staff bin'
I work at a farmer's market and get produce at no charge.
I worked at a big name grocery store though, and they didn't let you take anything home... even if it went bad, their policy was that, if you took it home because it went bad, you let it get bad because you wanted to take it home.... kind of thing...
Yuck!