
Sustainable Sorting: A Human-Centric Approach to Second-Hand Clothing Decisions
Team: Paith Philemon, Lucy Dunne (Faculty Advisor)
Program: Wearable Technology Lab
"African countries are amongst the highest importers of secondhand clothes. Nearly seventy percent of all Western Second-hand Clothes (SHC) donations go to African countries (Kermeliotis & Curnow, 2013). However, this "charitable donation" of clothing has lasting socio-economic impacts that include extreme pressure on domestic industries, loss of jobs, and the exploitation of entrepreneurial potential in developing countries.
The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe and improve efficiency in the second-hand clothing industry by identifying the information, through data collection and analysis, that is needed to inform the options for where a garment ends up after it is donated. The objective is to understand the decision-makers in the second-hand clothing importing industry for the purchase and distribution of secondhand clothes. My core objectives are to identify and understand information bottlenecks that result in inefficient disposal-related decision-making for consumers and manufacturers.
Ultimately, this research will identify critical themes for understanding the experience of sorters and importers within the chain to inform suggestions for the future design of a digital garment profile: the garment-level attributes and details needed to guide post-donation decisions."
Keywords: Secondhand Clothes, Recycle, Reuse, Donation, Importers, Textile, Waste, Production.
Funder: DOVE Fellowship University Of Minnesota