South Australians set their clothes free
- Circular economy
May 28, 2025
South Australians dropped off almost 20 tonnes of unwanted textiles for donation and recycling at GISA’s Set your clothes free event, held on Saturday 24 May.
In partnership with local councils, Charitable Reuse Australia (CRA) and Shred-X, GISA invited SA residents to set their clothes free and donate their unwanted, but still high-quality clothing and footwear, and to drop off unwanted household linens in any condition to be recycled.
Across the 8 drop-off sites, located from Victor Harbor through to Gawler, 11.8 tonnes of high-quality clothing and footwear was collected for resale by the participating CRA member charities – Salvos Stores, Red Nose, RSPCA, and the Australian Red Cross.
An additional 7.8 tonnes of low-grade household textiles – such as old sheets, towels, curtains and more – was also collected, and has been transported by Shred-X to the Upparel facility in Victoria where items will be shredded to be used as filling in new products including boxing bags and pet beds.
Australians are the world’s biggest consumers of fashion, purchasing an average of 53 items of clothing per person each year – but a significant portion of those end up unworn or underused, buried in wardrobes and destined for landfill.
The Set your clothes free event focused on collecting clothing items that are genuinely reusable and giving them a second life in charity stores, and easing the burden placed on charity stores that can become overwhelmed with poor-quality donations that can’t be re-sold.
The event was the state’s largest ever clothing and linen donation drive, and South Australians doubled the number of textiles collected at the 2024 Give a sheet event.
A second Set your clothes free event is being planned for late 2025.
