Most of you probably do not do much of your clothes shopping at Wal-Mart and some of you might do your shopping at H & M. Regardless of where you shop, I think you will be shocked by the rampant wastefulness of both stores.

According to this Shine article, Wal-Mart and H & M have both been caught red-handed in New York City throwing out their extra clothes into dumpsters after intentionally ruining them so that no one could wear them.

The clothes were found with in garbage bags in dumpsters with holes in them, slashed, and ruined. The items ranged from men’s clothing to children’s clothing.

Increasing numbers of the New York City inhabitants are living in poverty right now and many of the residents presumably could have used clothing donations, but of course, what company wants to give their merchandise away for free? Certainly not Wal-Mart or H & M.

Let’s face it, as a gargantuan corporation, Wal-Mart does not have the best of reputations and definitely could use good publicity. I don’t know if these were isolated incidents or what either company’s official corporate policy is on unsold clothing, but it is definitely time to stop both corporate and private waste.

Yesterday, spokesmen for each of the stores said they had policies of donating unsold clothing and that it would not happen again. I find this difficult to believe as both companies with their pants down, so to speak.

Times are tough now, and there needs to be more corporate accountability in this country. Part of the reason the United States supposedly has a lower tax base than other countries is the idea that individual and corporate philanthropy will help to ensure a safety net.

The reality is quite different. The governmental safety net is dwindling at a rapid pace and social services across the states are being cut in order to balance the budget. Both philanthropists and corporations are donating less and laying off more workers, which is the equivalent of a double-whammy on the laid-off workers. As a result, many people are left without basic necessities such as clothing. As anyone with children knows, kids grow fast and need new (or used) clothing.

This may be a small incident as an example of corporate wastefulness and greed, but is indicative of a much larger problem.