A Parting Gift

Scarlett Gilligan, UDLAP, Mexico

When we think about sustainability, we often think green, recycling, taking public transport, but often it can be so much more than that. Being on this year abroad, I feel like I have been given so much and after speaking to some of my friends, we decided we needed to give something back to the community that welcomed us so kindly.

After spending a year in Cholula, with street markets calling my name, I don’t dare to think of the amount of clothes I have accumulated. I couldn’t be more thrilled to see my wardrobe beaming with colour, but my suitcase to go home isn’t so happy. It felt like such a horrible waste to simply throw away all these clothes, with the class system being visible in and around Cholula, it felt wrong.

We first thought, well this is great! There are tons of little thrift shops that sell items just like ours, selling them for cheap too. This started as a great idea, thought it would be good to help the small local businesses that give life to the streets.

With this train of thought, we began to dig a little deeper, think yes they may sell these clothes for cheap prices, but there is always someone out there who needs it more than the shopaholic wandering with their student bank after class. I started to get in touch with local Facebook groups, asking for sites where you can donate clothes, particularly for young women.

As a result, we found a range of local churches and organisations within Puebla that take in donations with open arms. Even better, they help to refuge women in dangerous or desperate situations. Rather than contributing to the worsening wastage problem in Puebla, it took only a small amount of research to find that there is more than enough spaces that would be grateful to receive anything.

This isn’t a lecture about fast fashion or being a sustainable tourist, its a reminder than while we are here, we benefit from experiencing some of the most visible and accessible parts of Mexico, which comes with a level of privilege that makes easy to overlook what can really be happening. You benefit enormously from your experience, to me it is only fair to bring some balance to such generosity.