Tesco has a clothes bank
– but does it really help the environment?
The UK’s biggest supermarket, Tesco, has announced that it is to install clothes banks in all of its stores. The move comes as part of the company’s commitment to become more environmentally friendly, and to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill.
So, what exactly is a clothes bank? And how does it work?
Essentially, it is a large container into which customers can deposit unwanted clothes. The clothes are then collected by a charity or recycling company, and either sold in second-hand shops or recycled into new products.
Tesco says that the move will help to reduce the amount of textile waste that goes to landfill each year. It is estimated that around 350,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfill in the UK every year, so this is a significant step in the right direction.
There are some critics, however, who say that clothes banks are not the most effective way to reduce textile waste. They argue that many of the clothes deposited in these banks are not actually reusable, and so they will still end up in landfill.
There is also the question of where these clothes banks will be located. If they are placed outside of the store, then there is a risk that they will become dumping grounds for people who simply want to get rid of their old clothes without actually donating them to charity.
So, does Tesco’s decision to install clothes banks in all of its stores make sense? It is certainly a step in the right direction when it comes to reducing textile waste.
However, there are some concerns about how effective they will actually be. Only time will tell whether this is a genuine attempt to help the environment, or simply a marketing gimmick.
