Before Covid-19 came along, Intercept were on target to save an estimated 10 tonnes of fabric from landfill for 2020. I'd like to share how we have managed to do this so far.
You've seen the opening of the Intercept shop just 2 weeks ago. Upcycling for this takes care of a decent portion of fabric, but to get to the 10 tonnes, something else is going on.
Our team of volunteers work a roster to sort through the bales of textiles that are destined for the landfill from the Whangarei Salvation Army Family Store. We pull out the following items:
Adult, teenagers and children's clothing:
These items are rehomed to our poorer communities via various health and social services that we've teamed up with. We make sure all items are clean and tidy before they go.
Children's and baby clothing we can place easily, also moving them through organizations like Plunket and the Teenage Parents School.
Recently our volunteers took 18 banana boxes of clothing and bedding to give away at a free family day - and all of it went.
Hannah is now making clothing packs in gender and sizes, so that our Public Health team can easily come through and pick them out for families in need. These packs have a range of clothing that any child would need.
Bedding - sheets, duvets, pillowcases, bedspreads - go in much the same way as the clothing. Our volunteers have been sorting them into packs of singles, double, queen, king - including in each sheets, pillowcases, duvet cover etc. These have been really popular. At the time of sorting for size, the volunteers also make sure they are in good condition.
We have a box of bras. They will go to the Pacific Islands - once travel is back to normal. The Uplift Project works out of NZ, Australia and Singapore to move these to where they are needed.
School uniforms often come through. We save these and take them back to the schools so that they can be provided to their students. Of course, only the ones in good condition.
Scout uniform items too, get returned to a local scout group for reuse.
Buttons off non-savable items get carded up and given back to the Salvation Army to sell in the Store. Some go upstairs for use in upcycling.
Childrens dress ups/costumes - these often need washing and repairs, then they are distributed to local Playcentres and Kindergartens. The little skirt pictured needed the ragged top layer cut away, then a couple of motifs to cover a paint mark and a repaired tear.
There will be another whole post about tshirts, plus the many items that go to our makers.
Keep safe out there amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Intercept team have stopped our rostered duties meantime and will be working from home on our Winter range.