My bras aren't suitable to be recycled when I get rid of them. The wires have usually broken or they are so threadbare that they don't offer any coverage at all. Maybe that's why people don't donate them, because they're not suitable to donate.

Meh, bras aren't really a quality of life thing. It's a societal thing. If these women are crying out for bras, then yes they deserve them. But I don't like the idea of a cute, perky underwire being an unalienable right. It seems a bit like projecting to me.

How green is it to box up a bunch of old undies and then ship them, using fossil fuels? Couldn't we all just send a little cash? Seriously, all these green initiatives just seem really wasteful.

What about my thongs? I have heard that women in third world developing countries are quite concerned about panty lines.

Well, if they want my black tights with the hole in the toe, they're going to have to arm wrestle me for them.

I wasn't aware there was a need for my ratty old bras. Ok, which one do you want Oxfam? The one with all the hooks in the back bent, so they stab you if you lean back, or the one that has no underwire in the left boob?

On a related note, apparently used underwear (yes, panties) are of great demand at the Salvation Army and similar thriftstores. When you think about it, it makes sense. People need undies, and new ones aren't cheap, particularly when you're deciding between new underwear and food in the tummy. I used to throw out my old panties but now I donate them. It's not just people in third world countries who are in need of undies and bras - it's people in our country as well.

@Pinkosaurus: Particularly if you're sending them right back to a country where they were produced in a sweatshop. Makes my head hurt to think about all those shipping containers powered by non-renewable resources passing in the night.

Just one of my old bras could provide shade and warmth to a destitute family of four.

Seriously, I never even thought about bra shortages. Wow. I'm gonna go open my top dresser drawer and put on every bra I own while thanking the flying spaghetti monster that I have the luxury of strapping my tatters in place.

Wouldn't donating bras so worn that the underwire stabs you in the breast repeatedly be like waterboarding a terrorist?

Cruel and unusual punishment.

Next up: a call for used crotchless underwear!

I read about this and I'm pretty sure Oxfam have been doing this for ages, but it's just come to light now. Dunno. My bras are not fit to be seen by anyone by the time they get thrown away.

Since a good DD bra is rather expensive, I wear them until they fall apart. I am currently wearing one that the underwire has poked through, but I love it so much I just shove the wire back in. My discarded bras are not desired.

Sorry, but...EW ew ew ew. My bras get funk nasty when I am through with them, and I would not wish said funk nastiness on anyone. I'll donate the 20 bones for a new one. Plus, wouldn't flying them all over the place negate the benefit? How much fossil fuel goes into the production of one Playtex?

@Xavoc: Oh, that's mostly the Victoria's Secret bras.

I needed to read this a few days ago. I just chucked a few in the trash. There wasn't anything majorly wrong with them, I just got some newer, comfier ones and needed to make room in the drawer.

@petuniacat: Ewwwww... they want my used drawers? Really?

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I think it's more practical to donate used sports bras, which aren't sized so specifically. They wouldn't as worn out as much as a regular bra and they'd fit more women.

@petuniacat:

Does the Salvation Army accept new underwear? I know people will take what they can get when they're in need, but that just seems too gross to me. I had always heard you couldn't donate underwear.

Now I'm convinced that all that bra-burning in the seventies is what caused today's environmental problems.

Plus, this is NOT a "way to save the environment." This is a way to give bras to women who likely own more than one pair of clothes.

@funnyface: add in "don't" before "own."

@petuniacat: On a serious note - do they have any "guidelines" on what to do to the underwear prior to donating them? I'm just curious

I wear my smalls until they're dead.

@ceejeemcbeegee: Yup. Serious business. When I hear stuff like that, it really makes me appreciate what I have - especially my overflowing underwear drawer.

Ratty bras are a womans dirty little secret. When I get rid of mine I usually put them in a Target bag, knot(twice) it and throw it directly down the trash chute..praying the super does not realize it is mine. In this case the third world women deserve better!

@ceejeemcbeegee: I agree with you on the ew. Really, used bras, underware, or socks kind of just need to be thrown away.

for some reason this makes me think of that show about Tommy Hilfiger's daughter, and how she decided that matresses needed to be donated to people in Africa.

@petuniacat:

Really? Not that it doesn't make sense that people wouldn't be able to afford it but...is that really sanitary? I'm sure it all gets washed and everything, but I think I'd rather go without undies than wear someone else's. Bras I can understand better I guess, but like someone said by the time I throw them out the wires are poking through.

@Katxyz: I'm sure they do.

I've seen used undies at thriftstores, so I'm pretty sure they take them.

I do know they won't take mattresses though, which bugs me. I mean, yeah, it might be pretty skeevy to think about sleeping on a used mattress, but a lot of people don't have the few hundred bucks at their disposal to buy themselves a new one.

This is why I'm glad I found Jezebel - in my almost 20 years on this earth, I didn't know anyone else had nasty period panties, let alone the guts to write about them. It makes sense, I guess I just thought my vag was especially sloppy. Also, "international titocracy," hee.

@NefariousNewt: Much more profitable to simply sell the used on eBay as a fetish item and buy new ones to donate to charity.

And on a related note, does anyone remember the 30 Rock where Liz Lemon told someone not to ask her for life advice because "this bra is held together with tape!!!" That, in a nutshell, is why I love Liz Lemon.

@Katxyz: I'd definitely donate packs and packs of new underwear to the Salvation Army, but I wouldn't EVER give anyone my old underwear.
I used to do a lot of charity/donation stuff at church (back when I went to church), and all the nasty mean old ladies would get mad when we had standards for donating: i.e., no dented cans/expired food/used underwear. Their response was "They should just be happy with what they have!" Yeah, be happy with your rotting food, botulism-tainted cans, and dirty underwear, Thelma.

@petuniacat: It's illegal due to possible health risks involved.

In many states you cannot sell a used mattress, but you can sell a used box spring. So, you give the mattress away for free to the purchaser of the box spring.

@petuniacat: I bought a used mattress off Craigslist. With a mattress pad and an allergy cover, I figure I'm pretty safe.

@Katxyz: Sometimes you can, I've been in disaster zones and women were looking for underwear in the donation piles.

@funnyface: @funnyface: Haven't you ever considered, though, that there is no system set up for textile recycling? Except for the carbon footprint of shipping, reusing is the only method there is for recycling clothing.

@firecracker: Seriously? Thats.....not very bright. On that note, I watched a segment on dateline about refurbished mattresses. They found bedbugs on them. I tend to think of used panties that same way, no matter how clean they are, you don't know whats been there before hand.

@bifteck-frites: Very true. Except for that insulation made from denim.

@bifteck-frites: Er, two thoughts in one sentence there. What I meant was, except for the carbon footprint of shipping, reusing clothing is a great solution because there's no textile recycling infrastructure.

@funnyface: There are ways, but they're expensive, and there's no major infrastructure behind it the way that we have for plastic, glass and paper.

But if a non-used bra was too much to ask, then I'd take a used bra if I were living in a 3rd world country. Maybe that's just me being all crazy again, though.

I see no problem with donating old bras but they're usually not in a state to be donated. I wear them to death. Maybe instead of a food drive, VS can just donate a store to them. Wouldn't that be great? Wearing used clothes, OH THE HORROR.
We should build they proper plumbing and give them tons of tamons so they too will be able to flush them into the environment.

@misssgolightly:

For real...it's admirable to donate things, but if I couldn't afford undies, I feel like using old used undies would just make me feel a little worse.

I'm having a hard time getting my head around a lot of these comments. The bras, which will have been washed, are going to women who do not have access to them otherwise. They will be repaired and or mended if they have holes or if underwires are poking through. Mocking the initiative seems unbelievably callous to the circumstances under which so many women must live.

I wouldn' burden anyone with my unworn Victoria's Secret bras...they are unworn for a reason...they're MISERABLEY uncomfortable. Why are we pushing bras on these women anyway?!

@bifteck-frites: Yeah. Heck, I just wish my recycling pickup would include ALL the plastics, not just 1, 2, and 3.

@firecracker: while that may sound silly, lots of people the world over sleep on dirt floors. So a mattress might be appreciated.

@Katxyz: You have a very first-world perspective, though. Many of these bras would likely be going to women who have never had a new ANYTHING, ever.

When I find a comfortable bra, I tend to wear it until it is basically a lacy rag.
I do applaud the idea of donation though, and know I have various bras around that were never really worn as I bought the wrong size, or gained/lost weight.
Thanks for publicizing this, Moe.

@petuniacat: On a related note, apparently used underwear (yes, panties) are of great demand at the Salvation Army and similar thriftstores.

REALLY? I must have an unreasonable standard for the clothes I think are worthy to donate. I always think, "Nobody is going to want this faded shirt" or "Nobody wants jeans with the ratty cuffs." I never even considered underwear.

My bff's flight was delayed when we were to catch a scuba boat. I got all her gear together for a weekend aboard, bought new drawers. 10 years later she still asks why I didn't just pack some of mine. Because, the ew factor. Duhh.