Set your clothes free | 24 May

Thank you to all South Australians who joined us on Saturday 24 May to set their clothes free – almost 20 tonnes of unwanted textiles were collected for donation and recycling, including:

  • 11.8 tonnes of high-quality clothing and footwear collected for resale by Salvos Stores, Red Nose, RSPCA, and the Australian Red Cross
  • 7.8 tonnes of low-grade household textiles – such as old sheets, towels, curtains and more – collected and 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.

With thanks to our partnering charities and councils

Charity partners



Council partners

Linen recycling partner

Acknowled­gement of Country

Green Industries SA acknowledges and respects the Traditional Custodians whose ancestral lands we live and work upon and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 

We acknowledge and respect their deep spiritual connection and the relationship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people have to Country.

We extend our respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their nations in South Australia and across Australia.