We need to give new life to old clothes

Winter is over and it is time for families to store heavy winter wear deep in wardrobes and bring out lighter clothes for the warm season ahead.

During this seasonal migration of garments, I found that roughly one in every five garments has not been used for many years — either because it no longer fits, has gone out of fashion or is simply not liked anymore.

Many such clothes had become useless for my family but we hesitated to throw them away. People of my generation, who experienced the hard times of running short of food and clothes, feel guilty when discarding any usable item, be it clothes, packaging boxes or plastic bags.

"Keep them till I can wear them after I lose some weight," my wife has said for the past 20 years whenever I wanted to dispose of some of her dresses. I agreed because I myself have the same arrangement for my tight sweaters, jackets and pants.

As a result, our four wardrobes were packed with clothes, and it took me a whole day to complete the seasonal adjustment.

That's when I decided to clear out some of the old clothes. The timing was just right — my wife was away in Hainan province.

Together with my son, I sorted out more than 40 kilograms of used clothes — a number of down coats, a dozen or more woolen sweaters and several jackets, pants and shirts. After I contacted an online waste collector, a young man came to our house and took away our harvest, paying a symbolic 20 yuan ($2.93).

We could have simply thrown the clothes away in the trash bins in our apartment compound but I could not bear the thought of my once-beloved garments lying among rotting vegetables and chicken bones.

I prefer to believe that the young collector who took the clothes would sell them to recycling plants or find new owners for them. After all, some of the clothes had hardly been used because they failed to keep pace with our weight gain.

I believe many Chinese families share the same dilemma when it comes to getting rid of used clothes.

About 50 years ago, this was not a problem. In times of scarcity, one would be lucky to have even a second set of clothes. Later, for many years, used clothes were collected by government departments and sent to poor rural families and disaster-hit areas as relief.

Today, the situation is different. Rural areas have eliminated absolute poverty since 2020 and the government has stocked sufficient supplies — tents, down coats and blankets — for emergencies. As a result, the government's collection of used clothes has been suspended. While this is good news and reflects the country's progress, it has blocked an important channel for disposing of old but usable clothes.

The number of shops selling second-hand clothes, once common across the country, has also decreased. Many well-off Chinese consider it beneath their dignity to step into such shops. There are some online second-hand trading platforms, but they mostly deal in luxury goods — ladies bags, Swiss watches and expensive toys. If any clothes change hands, they are usually wedding dresses or branded suits valued at thousands of yuan. You must be joking if you think you can sell your used clothes on such platforms.

Some communities organize weekend flea markets for second-hand goods. Toys, electrical appliances, books, furniture and home ornaments are well-received at such places, but used clothes are the least welcome.

After all, it would be embarrassing if one were seen wearing an overcoat discarded by one's neighbor.

As a result, used clothes either find their way into trash bins or, as in our case, are taken away by collectors. What becomes of them is not entirely clear.

I believe a large portion is sent to recycling plants and turned into new materials. If that is true, it is at least an acceptable destiny for worn-out clothes. However, when I imagine my brand-new clothes being thrown into large pools filled with chemicals, my heart aches.

It would be better if there were some mechanism that separates used clothes that are in good condition, disinfects and irons them, and then gives them a new life in families that truly need them.

The author is former deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily.

kangbing@chinadaily.com.cn