Project Salvage: Enhancing Clothing Donation in Cubuy-Lomas

Project Sponsor: Javier Valedón – Id Shaliah

Team Members: Michael Duggan, Theresa Ng, Ryan Siepmann, Youssef Benchikhi

Project Advisors: Professor Melissa Belz, Professor John-Michael Davis

Project Files

• Id Shaliah – Final Report

Abstract

Id Shaliah, a non-profit organization in Puerto Rico, partnered with a major retailer through Project Salvage, a program to redistribute unsold merchandise to support community development efforts. This program offers potential benefits to marginalized populations, so our project focused on enhancing the functionality of Project Salvage. We assessed current conditions through interviews and observations, identified four main issues improve (worker comfort, donation tracking, organizing financials, and promotion) and conducted online research and interviews to provide recommendations for each issue. Our project produced a collection of equipment to enhance worker safety, an automated donation tracking system through Google Suite, an organized financial system, and an advertisement plan.

Executive Summary:

Background and Introduction

Over 92 million tons of textile waste are generated annually worldwide. The United States is one of the top three global contributors, producing 17 million tons (US EPA, 2017). Textile waste in the US is primarily driven by the emergence of fast fashion, a business model characterized by the rapid production of inexpensive clothing. On average, each American discards approximately 70 pounds of clothing annually, with many items worn fewer than five times before disposal (Conca, 2015). Consequently, textile waste significantly contributes to both environmental degradation and air pollution (Conca, 2015).

In recent years, many large retail companies have been making efforts to reduce textile waste. In the mountainous community of Cubuy-Lomas, Puerto Rico, the non-profit organization Id Shaliah has partnered with a major retailer to repurpose unsold clothing and household merchandise in a partnership called Project Salvage. The major retail company donates a regular shipment of unsold clothes and merchandise to Id Shaliah. For each shipment, 80%of the received items are donated to marginalized populations in Puerto Rico, while 20% is sold at a discounted price to generate funds through a thrift store, Armario, to support the program and Id Shaliah’s community center. This partnership offers a novel approach to provide a triple win: the major retail company reduces waste sent to the landfill, Id Shaliah can generate a revenue source to financially support their community development work, and the remaining clothes are donated to support marginalized populations throughout Puerto Rico. However, there are still questions of how Id Shaliah can navigate this unique corporate partnership within the clothing donation industry. Id Shaliah is a small grassroots operation that would benefit from developing and systemizing their organizational progress for Project Salvage from beginning to end. The goal of the project was to facilitate the development of Id Shaliah’s clothing donation program in order to support the Cubuy-Lomas community center. To achieve this goal for Id Shaliah, the group focused on two main objectives:
1) Identify challenges and opportunities to enhance Project Salvage
2) Develop strategies to improve the work environment and efficiency of Project Salvage

Figure A: Location of Cubuy-Lomas Community Center (Google Maps, 2023).

Methods

In order to learn about challenges faced within Project Salvage, the group conducted interviews with Id Shaliah volunteers along with observations of the current working process. Through these interviews, the group determined four intervention points and carried out a series of three methods (interviews, online research, and surveys) to develop strategies to improve the operational processes of Project Salvage.

The remainder of the summary will be structured as follows: we introduce the four intervention points we identified coupled with recommendations for immediate and long-term strategic improvements.

Improving the Work Environment of Project Salvage

Project Salvage volunteers are a critical resource, but face ergonomic challenges that, if left unaddressed, could hinder their long-term ability to work at Project Salvage. This partnership is operated by three Id Shaliah workers and ten elderly volunteers from a local church. Through observing the overall process of donating clothing and interviewing volunteers the team learned the volunteers faced ergonomic challenges.

Volunteers at Id Shaliah experienced back pain, cuts on their hands, and extreme temperatures. Through further observation, the group determined back pain was caused by a lack of enough or appropriately sized tables, places to sit, and safety equipment. Donations arrived in a large metal shipping container in which volunteers would unload boxes for hours. Temperatures inside the container often reached 120°F which resulted in volunteers becoming fatigued. After researching various options for tables, safety equipment such as protective gloves, support belts, and neck fans, the group recommended options to Mr. Valedón to purchase and implement.

The group learned Id Shaliah planned to relocate the main clothing processing room to a new area of the Cubuy-Lomas community center for a more streamlined process. To support the organization with this move we created a room design that maximizes space while improving worker comfort.

Figure B: Image of the CAD model for future Project Salvage processing.

Developing an Outgoing Donation Tracking System and Network

Project Salvage requires Id Shaliah to donate 20 pallets of merchandise monthly to nonprofit organizations throughout Puerto Rico, which demands an organized and robust network of donation recipients. They currently have 20 organizations they work with, but it is not enough, their current system was ad hoc and relied on WhatsApp messages and forms for documentation. Through interviews with the Id Shaliah volunteers, one major fallback of Project Salvage was the lack of a streamlined donation system. The group identified two main objectives for improving their donation system, automating tracking and developing a network of organizations to receive donations.

Project Salvage also requires Id Shaliah to provide the retailer with proof of donation, including quantity and pictures. Through interviews with retail stores of various sizes, we determined that a barcode system was the most effective method of tracking outgoing merchandise. We developed a barcode system with an automated spreadsheet database so that Id Shaliah can automatically track quantity of clothing donated. The group created a Google Form for donation recipients to upload images. These two documents will allow Id Shaliah to digitize all their donation information to send by email to the retailer monthly.

Id Shaliah is required to limit and rotate donations to an organization once every other month. Prior to the project, Id Shaliah only had 20 partners to receive donations, which was insufficient to adhere to this requirement. The group sent an interest survey to 102 nonprofits across Puerto Rico to identify potential partners, and during the time of the project created new partnerships that resulted in over 5,200 pieces of clothing donated in one month. We recommended that Id Shaliah continue using this survey until they reach 40 total donation recipients.

Assessing the Financial Viability of Project Salvage

Project Salvage is an innovative partnership that allows Id Shaliah to provide humanitarian aid to marginalized populations across Puerto Rico, however it is currently unclear if it is a profitable program for them to fund other missions that the community center has. Through interviews with the accountant at Id Shaliah, the group determined that a financial analysis system would be important to determine the profitability of Project Salvage. Prior to the project all financial analysis was done on paper, by hand.

Through interviews with small retail stores in San Juan, the group determined that the most widely used method of tracking finances was Shopify. However, at $150 per month on average, this is too expensive for Id Shaliah. Therefore, the group developed a monthly profit and loss statement that was integrated with an inventory and revenue tracking spreadsheet for Armario so that Id Shaliah can determine how much profit they make monthly. The group also recommended to Id Shaliah that once they make a sufficient amount of revenue monthly, around $1,000 per month through Armario, and have an employee dedicated to the store that they consider switching to a Shopify plan, as it will allow them to have an online store to create more revenue.

We also believe that sending an annual report back to the major retailer on a yearly basis will allow Id Shaliah to strengthen their bond with them and ensure that Project Salvage is in place for years to come. An annual report like this will ensure the retailer that the clothing and other goods are serving a good purpose and getting to marginalized populations in Puerto Rico. The group also developed this report, including data such as estimated monetary value of donations, profit from Armario, and a map of where clothing is donated.

Increasing Public Awareness of Armario

With the recent opening of Armario a clothing boutique store in Id Shaliah, the organization has sought to increase revenue from the store, ensuring it can continue to provide and support the community center financially.

Figure C: Armario, the boutique clothing store located within Id Shaliah.

As Armario suffered from inconsistent sales, lacked a formal promotional plan and with Armario’s products arriving in the form of monthly and seasonal shipments, the group saw a need to devise a more comprehensive promotional strategy. As a result, the group developed a series of promotional materials and recommendations such as a Google business account, seasonal flyers and templates, a social media strategy, and a text message system to remind customers of new shipments.

Figure D: Our recommendations and actions table detailing promotional findings.

Conclusion

Project Salvage exemplifies a circular economy by repurposing unsold clothing into a resource for Id Shaliah and the broader community. Through the sale of clothing at Armario and donations to community centers across Puerto Rico the program is able to minimize waste and establish a framework to support marginalized communities. Through the research and findings of the group, we developed a collection of short- and long-term recommendations and deliverables to facilitate the development of Project Salvage. The short-term recommendations focus on addressing immediate needs and challenges faced by Id Shaliah. Once Armario gains a more profitable revenue and the new sorting is established, the team recommends Id Shaliah to transition to the long term solutions. These long-term solutions aim at ensuring the continued success and growth of Id Shaliah in the future. We believe that utilizing these systems as described above will allow Project Salvage to have a sustained impact throughout Puerto Rico for years to come.

Table A: Short-Term and Long-Term Solutions of Project Salvage and Armario’s Current Problems