Some charity shops in Laois accept torn or tattered clothes says councillor

THE Saint Vincent De Paul (SVP) shop in Stradbally accepts torn or worn out clothes. 

An appeal went out from the January meeting of Laois County Council for people to consider donating such garments to charity shops around the country.

Cllr Paschal McEvoy was commenting on a motion by cllr Tommy Mulligan who asked for the establishment of recycling clothes banks around the county as opposed to clothes bank.

He explained the difference between the two types of banks.

Regarding clothes banks, he said: “Any clothes that end up in them end up in charity, second-hand or in thrift shops, to community groups or abroad to third world countries. These have to be clothes of a good standard.

“What I’m taking about are recycling clothes banks. These are clothes that are ripped, damaged and of no use. Clothes that don’t go into clothes banks. These clothes could be recycled, shredded and repurposed into installation, industrial rags, carpets, stuffing for cushions or mattresses.” 

Cllr Mulligan said: “At the moment these types of clothes are not going into clothes banks. Instead are ending up in landfill. I think we should be looking at recycling clothes, rather than dumping them into landfills. This way we’re reducing waste and promoting sustainability.” 

“If we do install these type of recycling clothes banks it’s important that we have clear signs explaining the difference between those banks and clothes recycling banks and what type of clothes go into each bank,” he said.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said: “If we are to provide facilities like this we’d need to give careful consideration to them. Over the years we’ve had clothes banks all over the county and had to go around removing them. In Esker Hills and at the Old Dunne Stores (Mountmellick Road, Portlaoise) going back a few years ago, there were people dumping piles and piles of rubbish at them. We thought we’d never get rid of them (clothes bank) because there was that much rubbish beside them. When I say rubbish, it was domestic rubbish and bags after bags of household waste. There’s one currently at Supervalu along the Abbeyleix Road (Portlaoise) and it’s overloaded. I’d safety say that it’ll be removed out of there shortly because everybody is dumping there. I’ve seen GAA grounds getting rid of them off their property down through the years as well.” 

She said: “People get stickers through their doors and people are getting rid of their old clothes that way. While I support the motion, it would have to be managed properly and would have to be monitored otherwise we would be creating a problem.” 

Cllr McEvoy said: “I’m involved with SVP. You can bring clothes, that are not going to be recycled or resold, to the SVP shop in Stradbally. A van calls around once a week and collects all the ones that can’t be sold and takes them to Waterford where they are recycled. The shop gets paid for the clothes that are taken away. A lot of people probably don’t know that.

“If you have good clothes to donate, well and good, but you don’t have to have good clothes for charity shops. You just tell the staff the clothes can’t be reused or sold, that they’re just for recycling and they’ll get a few bob for selling them off.” 

He said: “Anyone bringing clothes to a charity shop thinks that they should be in very good order, but that’s not necessary true. I’m sure most charity shops are the same, but I’m not sure. You see bags of bags of clothes sometimes left on the side of the roads for weeks and weeks, rotting away. They could be brought to charity shops instead.” 

Cllr Mulligan said if charity and second-hand shops could inform the public that they accepts all types of clothes it would help.