Many people find that they have too much of one thing or the other, and it’s taking up space that they would rather fill with more useful or unique products. For a lot of us, the things that we have a little too much of — or far too much of — are clothes. It’s easy for clothes to build up in our homes, whether or not we actually wear them. We often buy clothes without trying them on first, find that we dislike them, and forget to return them; we get clothes that we don’t want but find the idea of exchanging a gift rude or too effortful; and we have clothes that we love, but simply outgrow or find to be out of style after a year or two. The amount of clothes that we own has grown over the years — back in 1930, the typical American woman had nine outfits. These days, she has 30 outfits; that is, one for every day of the month. As the amount of useless clothes we own grows, it can be easy to feel as if we should just throw them out. But you can do something more productive with those clothes — why donate them? For some people, going to donate clothing to charity is too time-consuming and tedious. Or maybe you simply live in an out of the way area, donating clothes just isn’t easy. Luckily, there are charities that will pick up donations — often not just clothes, but things like toys and appliances as well. Below, we’ll look into the benefits of making clothes donations.
1. Recycling
Charities that will pick up donations aren’t just benefiting the recipients of those charities — which can range from homeless people to veterans, to the needy in general. You — and indeed the world at large — will also benefit from making clothing donations. This is because, when we donate clothes, we’re doing so instead of throwing clothes away. We’re essentially recycling clothing. This is hugely important, as tossed clothing often ends up contributing to the massive amount of pollution in the world. Right now, Americans only recycle or donate about 15% of their clothing, with the rest — which is 10.5 million tons each year — ends up in landfills. This means that textiles have one of the poorest recycling rates of any reusable material. In fact, the average American throws away about 82 pounds of textiles each year. Textiles are so easily reused — so why not give them to charities that will pick up donations, rather than throwing them in the trash?
2. Clothes Are Easily Resold
Yes, it’s true that some clothes are difficult to reuse — though even if textiles have been stained or completely stretched out, they can usually be recycled in some way. But chances are the high that the clothes you’re tired of can still be worn by other people, and for that matter will be loved by them. It’s likely that some of the clothes you have hanging up in your closet have been worn only once or twice, and are as good as new — just not your style. Furthermore, people tend to like shopping at stores run by charities; for one thing, they appreciate the fact that their money will go to a good cause. For another, lots of people who shop at these stores are on a budget, and appreciate buying clothes especially that are less expensive while still of a good quality.
3. You Make Space
Decluttering isn’t just good for your home — it’s good for you on a psychological level too. People tend to feel better after they’ve cleaned their homes and made them more organized. For that matter, you’ll be able to rest easy knowing that, by giving your old clothes to charities that will pick up donations, you’re giving to a good cause. And in this case, you didn’t even have to make a monetary donation.