Our Porter Clothing Drive

why do we collect gear for OUR porters ON KILIMANJARO?

Our Porter Clothing Drive is just one of the many projects we run to support our amazing Earth’s Edge team in Tanzania! If you’ve travelled to Kilimanjaro with us, you’ll have witnessed firsthand the incredibly hard work our dedicated porters put in to supporting our groups each day. Without them, our expeditions to Africa’s tallest mountain would simply not be possible.

However, the unfortunate reality is that porters are often not properly equipped to trek while carrying heavy loads in the harsh mountain conditions. In order to ensure that our porters have access to the clothing and equipment they need, including adequate footwear and sufficient layers, we ask our clients to donate any good quality hiking items that they no longer have use for. We then collect these donations and bring them to Tanzania, providing our team with essential gear while also contributing to the circular fashion economy.

Since 2016, we have donated over 3,000 articles of clothing to our Earth’s Edge team in Tanzania. These donations have included 650 base layers, 400 jackets, 200 fleeces, 150 pairs of trousers, 215 hats, 100 pairs of gloves, 250 pairs of socks, and 130 pairs of walking boots, among other items. (Updated 20/6/24).

How to donate clothing or gear

If you want to give back to our wonderful porters on Kilimanjaro, there are two ways in which you can do so.

Firstly, at the end of your climb, if you have any suitable trekking equipment that you no longer need, you can give it to your expedition leader and they will arrange for it to be fairly distributed to our porters.

Alternatively, you can donate any suitable trekking equipment in Ireland in a number of ways:

• Drop it off at, or send it to our office: Earth’s Edge, Unit C28 Wicklow Enterprise Park, P.O. Box 8, The Murrough, Wicklow, A67 EW24. (opening hours: 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri)
• Bring it to Brockagh Resource Centre, Laragh, Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, A98 D3H1 (opening hours: 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri. They also accept donations on Saturdays when our training weekends are taking place – please contact us for these dates).
• Pop in to the Great Outdoors, 53-54 South Great George’s Street, Dublin, who also accept donations on our behalf.

what items can you donate?

Please ensure any donations are in good, useable condition and suitable for hiking. The last thing we want to do is to add to the problem of textile waste. As a general rule, cotton is not a suitable fabric for our porter donations.

In particular, we’re very keen to receive donations of clothing that would be suitable for our growing team of female porters.

If you have any equipment you’d like to donate to our porters but that isn’t on this list, please get in touch with us on support@earths-edge.com first, to check on the suitability of your donation.

Please remember that we are only requesting equipment you no longer need – so don’t feel pressured in any way to donate equipment that you still have a use for! Feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions about our Porter Clothing Drive.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!

If you’re travelling to Kilimanjaro with us, we’d love your help! We’re always looking for clients who are willing to help bring these donations from Dublin to Tanzania. If you’re interested in becoming part of the Porter Clothing Drive in this way, please get in contact with us via support@earths-edge.com.

Thanks you for helping us support our amazing porters!