Brightly colored collection boxes have been popping up all over Denver, beckoning passers-by to drop off their old clothes and shoes to "reduce waste and conserve."Those who take time to read the print on the side of the receptacles will learn their items will be picked up by a for-profit company called USAgain.
That irks some of the local charities that depend on clothing donations to fund their operations. The Better Business Bureau also wants consumers to be aware they are giving their goods to a commercial enterprise.
"When you give your discards, they're leaving town, and they're lining the pockets of someone else," said Susan Liehe, an official with the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau, a watchdog group.
The company installing the bright red-and-white checkered boxes - about 130 of them in the metro area - is based in Chicago and has operations in eight cities around the country.
"We are a commercial company doing something good for our environment," reads the print on a collection box at the corner of East Sixth Avenue and Clarkson Street. The box also lists the company's Web site, www.usagain.com, and a local phone number.
The response from Denver has been positive, the company says.
"It's quite clear people in Denver understand the recycling concept," said Allan Foighel, manager of USAgain in Denver.
Foighel said the company collects the clothing, shoes and linens weekly, or more often if necessary, and sells about half of the goods to thrift stores or companies in the U.S. and the other half overseas.
"It's a public service and a commercial enterprise," he said.
Occasionally, though, Foighel gets calls from people who want a receipt for tax deduction purposes.
"It happens once in a while, and we have to explain to them that we don't do that."
USAgain's Web site says the bulk of old clothing tends to end up in landfills.
It promotes recycling and also partners with schools and other groups to collect used clothing. The groups get a percentage of the proceeds, but Foighel declined to say how much of a cut they get.
Officials based at USAgain's Chicago headquarters could not be reached.
The head of Goodwill Industries of Denver called the commercial competition "frustrating," but he said it's difficult to measure whether his organization has received fewer donations as a result.
"It's a little hard to judge because donations are so variable," said Tim Welker, president and CEO of Goodwill of Denver. "It has to have had an impact on those of us who run legitimate nonprofit organizations that collect goods."
In the case of Goodwill, whose mission is to employ and train people who are disabled and disadvantaged, the clothes donation and resale program "allows it to employ large numbers of people. It's a means to an end," Welker said.
Welker said the Denver Goodwill organization has been investigating another group that has installed boxes around the city to find out whether items go to charity or elsewhere.
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