The Challenges of Recycling in UK Charity Shops and how Hugs needs YOUR help…
Charity shops play a significant role in promoting recycling and benefitting the community.
Hugs Children’s Cancer Charity accepts donations of good quality clothing, furniture, bric and brac, DVDs/books, and other media which helps keep these items out of landfills. By reselling or recycling these goods, they reduce the overall waste generated by consumer culture. Hugs promotes the idea of reusing and repurposing items instead of buying new ones, this can be seen with our shop fit outs which are all used from second hand and repurposed items, this we hope, encourages consumers to think more sustainably and consider the environmental impact of their purchases. By facilitating the resale of goods, charity shops contribute to a circular economy, where products are reused and recycled rather than discarded. This model supports sustainable consumption and production practices.
The funds raised from selling donated items go towards our charities community projects and directly to supporting families with childhood cancer. As a self-funded charity with no government funding, our shops are the lifeblood of our fundraising. However, we are now seeing a change in donator and consumer attitudes which has resulted in increasing costs to our charity.
Hugs often provide guidance on what items can be recycled and how to properly dispose of goods that cannot be sold. This education helps inform donors and consumers, leading to more responsible recycling behaviours. As mentioned previously, with an influx of unsuitable items, broken electronics, and stained clothing being delivered, it leads to an increased disposal cost and waste costs the charity to dispose of these items. It can at times seem that our charity is being selective unnecessarily when donating however our staff are well trained in knowing what will and will not sell and with the costs increasing we must protect our fundraising.
The landscape for recycling is ever changing and as a charity we must abide and follow these guidelines, while also trying to navigate our way to try and fundraise.
We are actively taking donations with no limit on amount taken in of good quality items, we also provide a house clearance service that can be arranged through our Collection and delivery on 01752 651025.
