Veolia Environmental Services has figured out an interesting model for funding the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. They collect old bras from local ladies and sell them in West Africa. When I first started seeing bra recycling headlines from Ireland and England this week, I assumed people were collecting the underwire. This, however, is a good example of how recycling pays!
Via letsrecycle.com
everydaytrash 
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 9:21 am |
this is cool, but is there the possibility that this would undercut any local clothing producers? not to say there’s a booming bra-making business in west africa, but isn’t that the argument that is often made against sending 2nd hand clothing to africa? and i’m asking b/c i figure you would know better than me 🙂
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 1:55 pm |
You’re right, there’s no local bra industry, just mass imports from China in some countries, so undercutting the local economy isn’t the issue (though exporting the culture of bra-wearing may be).
I’m glad you raised this, I had a moment of hesitation before posting this one. What I like about this initiative, though, is that it provides an incentive to recycle for the peeps in the UK. I’d rather see a donation program sending bras to Africa for local income generation programs (or more efforts like those of Goods for Good matching Northern excess with Southern need), but I think there’s also something to be said for practicality. The only way to get rid of our waste problem is to raise awareness about consumption and encourage people (especially people running big companies) to consume less which, in the West, seems to only sink in with the masses when money—in the form of either incentives or disincentives—is involved.
Again, thanks for raising this, Max. I’d love to hear what others think.
Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 11:07 pm |
I would be very interested in learning more about collecting and selling bras to West Africa. Can you provide additional information?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 9:53 pm |
Check this website out: http://www.brarecycling.org/
This program takes your bras and gives them to the local shelters.
Recycle Today!!!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 11:11 pm |
Thanks for the link!