Blue T Shirt Rug from Interior Revolution
Do you have old t-shirts you want to dispose of? Rather than donating your shirt to Goodwill or another aid organization, consider repurposing that shirt into something new.
While donating is great and we’re big fans of it here at the Adair Group, sometimes it does more harm than good. Free market trade with third world nations has led to a number of cheap t shirts and other donated western goods being dumped in those countries, decimating the local trade and production of those goods.
If you want to help people in third world nations with donations of food or clothing, consider purchasing and donating items made specifically in the countries you want to help. Additionally, donations of cash to charitable organizations that will put at least 75% of all their donations towards aid is a great way to make sure that what you’re doing to help really does count.
To learn more about the impact of donated t shirts and other western goods on third world nations, feel free to watch this PBS special called “T-Shirt Travels,” or check out this interesting article on the phenomenon from ForeignPolicy.com.
