How can your old clothes help others? Most people will be surprised to learn that their old clothes can still have a useful life long after they?ve outgrown them or gotten bored with them. When you donate used clothing to charity, you?re helping these organizations to fund their programs. And by keeping your old clothes out of the trash that goes to landfills, you?re helping the environment. You?re also giving someone else a chance to wear your old clothes and boots. Even if you?re bored with them, someone else might get a lot of use out of your old winter coats, gloves and scarves. It?s very easy to donate: you can just drop off a bag or schedule a clothing donations pick up.
Why recycle?
Recycling used clothing is the environmentally friendly option, but surprisingly few people choose to go that route. In fact among all recyclable materials like glass, paper and metal, fabrics and textiles have the lowest recovery rate. Only about 15% is recycled, and the rest goes into landfills. In absolute numbers, that?s 10.5 million tons of textiles going to the landfill every year.
This is one important reason to donate clothing to charity: you keep it out of landfills. This is the environmentally friendly option, since the landfills are already full to overflowing. Plus, by giving your used clothing a new lease on life, you?re helping to save on the financial, energy and environmental costs of producing new materials.
What happens to recycled clothing?
When you donate clothes to organizations like military charities, the clothes are sorted. Those that are in good condition are sold in thrift shops associated with the charity. This is a good way of helping families in need, enabling them to buy good quality clothing at bargain prices. Especially for families with children, or for people trying to find warm winter clothing without spending a lot of money, your clothing donations are a big help. It?s easy to donate: you can drop off a consignment or schedule a clothing donations pick up.
The charities use the funds raised from used clothing sales to fund their programs for military families and the environment. Clothing that is not sold in the thrift shops can still find many uses. Americans recycle around 2 million tons of used clothing each year, but just about half of this amount is worn again. The rest is used for other purposes: 30% percent is cut up and used as industrial rags, while another 20% is shredded for use in couch stuffing and home insulation.
What and how to donate
You can donate gently used clothing, shoes, gloves, hats and accessories. Many charities will also accept donations of toys, used household goods like dishes, pots and pans, small kitchen appliances, music, movies and books. All of these can be very useful for someone trying to furnish a house or apartment on a budget.
You can drop off your donations at designated locations, or even schedule a clothing donations pick up if you have a large lot of clothing. Either way, you can get a receipt for the value of your donations, which you can use to claim tax credits when filing your annual taxes. The charities will use the funds raised from clothing donation sales to fund their programs for military families and the environment.
Many people don?t realize how much value and use is still left in their old clothes and household items. Instead of putting them in the trash to send to landfills, you can donate them to charity where they will be put to good use. You can drop off your donations or schedule a clothing donations pick up, whichever is more convenient.