Avoiding Textile Surpluses with Hanseatic Help e.V.

(2nd edition)
Hanseatic Help e.V. was founded by a group of people from Hamburg to help and care for others. Since 2015, they have been providing
countless people in need, such as the homeless and refugees, primarily with clothing and hygiene items. Started as a citizens' initiative in
Hamburg's exhibition halls, Hanseatic Help is now a strong aid organization and a reliable provider of essential donations in kind to Hamburg
institutions and moreover to crisis areas. The Hanseatic Help team creates intercultural encounters and enables refugees and also German job
seekers to start their careers, for example through projects and events.
Furthermore, the association is active in the area of sustainability and carries out important educational work on the topics of old clothing
donations and sustainable textile consumption. On site in Hamburg, Große Elbstraßsse, the so-called material pool is a first step towards
reducing textile surplus. This is important, because some of the clothing donated to Hanseatic Help is not suitable for passing on to others due
to damage or soiling. Unfortunately, there are more and more old clothes that find little or no buyers. At this point the idea of the material
pool was born: Textiles which are no longer suitable for wearing and would have to go to textile recycling can be collected here for a donation
and used otherwise, for example for craft projects or costumes. With upcycling formats, workshops and much more, the initiative keeps
surplus clothing in circulation. In the long term, consumption by our society and overproduction of clothing should also be made sustainable.
For this, the association cooperates with many other initiatives to gain public visibility and include production chains and politics. The project is
now entering its second round and we are once again supporting Hanseatic Help e.V. with € 100,– for the“Sustainable Help„” project.
Brazil In Campo Mourão, Brazil, only 5 percent of garbage is recycled, and workers at the local recycling facility lacked the equipment needed
to increase productivity. Without a conveyor belt, they had to sort recyclable materials at tables and move them by hand, requiring extra time
and effort. And their outdated press was slow and created bales of recyclables that were smaller than standard for the regional market.
Working with a local environmental program that coordinates the recycling cooperative, the Rotary clubs of Campo Mourão and Little Rock,
Arkansas, developed a project to increase workers’ capacity to separate and process recyclable materials, providing both economic and
environmental benefits. The project funded equipment to improve worker safety and efficiency and provided environmental and financial
training. Workers sorted an additional 2.63 tons of recyclables per month after the grant project was implemented, and their income increased
nearly 25 percent per month.
Switzerland Every year, more than eight million tons of plastic waste, also known as plastic soup, end up in the oceans. Sea birds die from
ingesting phone parts, turtles believe plastic bags to be jellyfish, and fish mistake pieces of plastic for plankton. Microplastic enters the human
food chain via these fish.
Swiss Rotary members created an association, “Mare Nostrum – End Plastic Soup,” to organize efforts around reducing the amount of plastic
waste in the world’s waterways. Several times a year, volunteers remove plastics from rivers and lakes. The group has also developed a
campaign to teach businesses how to dispose of plastic waste properly.
“The protection of rivers, lakes, and seas is a major global undertaking, as water is an elementary part of life,” says Marie-Josée Staff-Theis,
member of Rotary Club of Arlesheima and co-president of the association.

CONTAMINATION: A substance that pollutes, spoils, or poisons something: High levels of contaminants have been found in the
groundwater, causing concerns about possible health risks to nearby neighborhoods.
- TYPES: As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals. In order to
ensure that tap water is safe to drink, EPA prescribes regulations which limit the amount of certain contaminants in drinking
water provided by public water systems. Below is a list of the most common types of contaminants. The presence of some
contaminants, however, does not necessarily indicate a health risk.
As stated before, there are different types of pollution, which are either caused by natural events (like forest fires) or by man-
made activities (like cars, factories, nuclear wastes, etc.) These are further classified into the following types of pollution:
Air Pollution, Water Pollution, Soil Pollution, Noise Pollution
Besides these 4 types of pollution, other types exist such as light pollution, thermal pollution and radioactive pollution. The latter
is much rarer than other types, but it is the deadliest.
- CAUSES: Most contaminants enter the environment from industrial and commercial facilities; oil and chemical spills;
non-point sources such as roads, parking lots, and storm drains; and wastewater treatment plants and sewage
systems. is typically associated with particular industrial, agricultural or commercial activities, historical events
- EFFECTS: contaminants can cause a variety of health problems. Common health problems from environmental
contaminants include breathing problems (such as asthma), heart disease, and some types of cancer.