There’s something satisfying about a good clear-out. The annoying bit is when all those clothes, books and toys clog up your hall or car boot as you try to find time to drop them to the charity shop. The task becomes one more thing to do. When you do get to the charity shop, finding a parking spot close enough to lug the bags in can be the next challenge.
But what if you could get all this stuff collected directly from your door? Oxfam’s “parcel with a purpose” Postback programme does just that. You can now order a special prepaid Oxfam Postback bag at OxfamIreland.org, or by phone. Fill it with your unwanted items and An Post will deliver it to the charity at no cost.
And you don’t even have to go to the post office – just scan the QR code on the bag to order its collection. An Post will come to your home with a label and collect your donation – absolutely free of charge.
“We know life can get busy, so we’ve made it free and easy to donate your stuff by post,” says Oxfam Ireland.
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The list of things you can send in the bag is pretty broad.
Oxfam will take all clothing and children’s clothing in good condition – just not underwear, socks or identifiable school uniforms. Bags, purses, hats, scarves, gloves, sunglasses and belts – you can donate those too. Shoes must be in pairs. Watches, costume jewellery and fine jewellery are all welcome. You can donate homewares and toys too, including unwanted gift sets, ornaments, vases, linens, complete jigsaws, and children’s games.
If you or your children are avid readers, books can quickly mount up – fiction, non-fiction, history books, cookery, gardening – Oxfam will take them all. You can bag up your old mobile phones, tablets and cameras too.
There’s a number of advantages to the charity’s Postback campaign. The first is it makes it easier for households to extend the life of their preloved items – donating them to charity diverts them from landfill and gives others access to quality items at a reduced cost.
The money raised from their sale contributes to supporting life-changing projects for people living in poverty too.
So what sells well and has the most chance of making money for the charity? Tops, shirts, accessories and anything vintage, Oxfam says. Items made from fabrics such as wool, cashmere, silk or leather are big sellers too.
“Our customers love the brands you love, so if you bought it, they will love it too,” says Oxfam. The better the quality of your item, the more it can help raise money.
Just don’t send items weighing more than 10kg via the postal donation service, the charity asks. If you have more to donate, simply order another bag, or drop the items to your local shop.
Oxfam has recently been awarded €48,000 by way of a Community Foundation Ireland circular economy innovation grant to scale up its “parcel with a purpose” project.
You’ll see parcel delivery vans whizzing up or down every highway and byway in the country seven days a week, delivering one “urgent” online purchase after another. Everything from printer paper to sports socks, protein powder to headphones – you can get anything to your doorstep in days.
Amazon, for example, takes in between €1.5 billion to €2 billion from Irish shoppers, according to research from Wolfgang Digital published last year. About 12 per cent of all online shopping in Ireland is flowing through the site, and likely more since the opening of Amazon’s dedicated platform for the Republic last year. It promised even faster delivery of all the stuff that fills out homes.
We are consuming our way into a climate crisis, and parcel delivery has speeded up the pace. When a new pair of jeans is made, for example, an estimated 16.2kg of CO2 is emitted – the equivalent of driving more than 58 miles in a car. And yet our search for that elusive perfect pair continues.
Of course it would be better for the planet and for our pockets if we shopped less and there were fewer vans delivering stuff every day. When you do amass enough of it for your next clear-out, think about ordering an Oxfam Postback bag. Recirculating items to charity can help curtail the environmental damage, while raising money for people affected by it too.
