clothing bin cult's clothing recycling bin

08-27-06 Update: A recent drive up El Camino Real on the San Mateo Peninsula showed that these bins have been placed everywhere; perhaps less than a mile apart. The manager at a well-known burrito restaurant approved placing a bin there, though he thought the "charity" was named "Gala" (see below).

Also, large trucks are arriving as often as every 48 hours at any hour of the day or night to remove clothing donated by volumes of unsuspecting donors. The dollar value must be immense - what a shame it does not go to legitimate charities!

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My personal "gaia" / Tvind / Campus California TG experience:

One day in mid 2006, my work led me to a very expensive house demolition. The house was a multimillion dollar home vacated by wealthy residents who left behind a volume of fine clothing including pants, shirts, sweaters, coats, and a volume of other items for both men and women.

I could not stand to see the clothing be trashed by the approaching bulldozers so I grabbed what I could: two packed SUV's full that I went to donate to the Goodwill Store as I have done so many times in the past. They were closed, and I did not want to hang onto everything over night, when I noticed a green clothing donation bin that was literally not there only days before.

I inspected the notes on the bin and saw the name "gala" [G - A - L - A; that is G A "EL" A] which I Googled [gala clothing donations] before dropping off the clothes. I found no results which was strange, but no negatives indicated nothing negative.

Literally as I shut the lid on the last of the clothes into the clothing recycling bin (which I filled), I thought that it might perhaps be a reference to "gaia" written on the logo.  That is to say G - A - I - A as in G A "eye" A! This is a reference to the mythological figure of a nurturing "Earth Mother."

clothing bin cult's intentionally misleading "gala" logo (should be "gaia")

I Googled that name [gaia clothing donations] and instantly found a volume of negative information. It was an epiphany; a revelation that I had just wasted more than 500 to 1,000 pounds of clothes (their method of valuation) to profit this lowlife trash at something like 15 cents per pound made me sick.

Clearly, this "organization" has intentionally created a misleading logo that would fool any given unsuspecting donor with good intentions and a closet full of old clothes. After all, it is so "pretty" and official-looking, how could anyone get away with anything so blatant and out in the open?

clothing bin cult's charity status

I called several businesses referenced as drop off bin locations on the CULT's own website and none knew how or why the bins appeared. One Round Table Pizza Parlor manager mentioned that he left work late one night, and the clothing recycling bin was just sitting there the next morning when he drove into the parking lot. None of his business neighbors had any more knowledge than he did...

I tried to get my clothes back so I could donate them to the local Goodwill or Salvation Army stores, but the bin was already empty as I approached while the crew was opening it only two days later. They must come every day or close to it.  The volume of clothing deposited by unsuspecting fraud victims was huge in every case I witnessed.

I asked seven different drivers who picked up the clothes recycling with giant rented trucks just how much money went to charity, and they uniformly mentioned "98 to 99 percent!"

I also asked the purpose of the charity, and they all said they helped "cure AIDs and build schools in places where they were needed."

Their answers were as "canned" as they were false.  Maybe they believed what they were saying, being as fooled as the general public.

clothing bin cult's claims

I called the actual company (companies) to investigate, but they would provide little information of substance; they did however, offer to take my name and number for someone to get back to me... Of course I did not, nor should you give them your personally identifiable contact information.

The simplicity and design of this scam must be seriously detracting from legitimate charitable organizations such as Goodwill Industries or the Salvation Army. You could always sell your unwanted clothes on eBay or other Internet site and donate cash for a tax-deductible writeoff.

Please do not, under any circumstance place anything in those green clothing donation bins except maybe your garbage!

 

Additional references:

TvindAlert.com
An investigative website into the Humana People-to-People organisation and the international Tvind movement.

CultsOnCampus.com
Tvind in the news.

Chicago Times Tribune
The green bins of Gaia
Gaia's clothing collection business flourishes in Chicago, but its promises to promote the environment are questionable. Meanwhile, the organization's leaders are under criminal indictment in Europe.

Sonoma News
Bins fund Siskiyou nonprofit

 

* You are welcome to use this information in whole or in part as long as you reference this website.

* There are no links to the cult's actual website(s) to prevent benefiting them in any possible way. If you must, you should have no trouble finding them using the names referenced above.

 

 

Copyright 2006 to 2008 ~ ClothingBinCult.Com

Clothing Bin Cult:

  • Tvind
  • GAIA
  • Campus California TG
  • Humana People-to-People

And thanks very much to the Rick A. Ross Institute: