The typhoon that hit the Philippines has caused damage measured by the shitload, and we Americans are admirably pitching in to help. The problem is that some of what we’re doing apparently isn’t helping at all.

Jessica Alexander, a humanitarian aid worker writing at Slate, says that the best thing we can do is send money, not hand-me-downs (h/t Anne Laurie, Avicenna):

After the tsunami, similarly well-intentioned people cleaned out their closets, sending boxes of “any old shoes” and other clothing to the countries. I was there after the tsunami and saw what happened to these clothes: Heaps of them were left lying on the side of the road. Cattle began picking at them and getting sick. Civil servants had to divert their limited time to eliminating the unwanted clothes. Sri Lankans and Indonesians found it degrading to be shipped people’s hand-me-downs. I remember a local colleague sighed as we passed the heaps of clothing on the sides of the road and said “I know people mean well, but we’re not beggars.” Boxes filled with Santa costumes, 4-inch high heels, and cocktail dresses landed in tsunami-affected areas. In some places, open tubes of Neosporin, Preparation H, and Viagra showed up. The aid community has coined a term for these items that get shipped from people’s closets and medicine cabinets as SWEDOW—Stuff We Don’t Want.

It’s a very noble instinct that leads us to donate, but I suspect the best place to donate our used stuff is somewhere local.

The Red Cross is generally a good place to go if you want to contribute. Hemant Mehta also has a good list of places you can donate. Let’s all do what we can to help, but let’s do it in the way that is most helpful.