When the Time Comes to Donate Old Clothes
The textiles industry is among the biggest in the entire world, and that may not come as a surprise. After all, everyone needs clothing to wear, whether for everyday life, work or military uniforms, formal wear, or a wide variety of accessories for men, women, and children alike. The United States in particular is a huge market for clothing and also a major manufacturer of clothing, but not all clothes end up being donated after use. The bad news is that a lot of old and unwanted clothes are simply thrown away or recycled into furniture stuffing rather than given to clothes donations sites. American Red Cross clothing donations are always welcomed, but charity rates could always be improved. A Red Cross donation center will be open at all times, ready to welcome anyone who chooses to donate old clothing. Any household today can donate old clothing that they aren’t using anymore, and help lower the rates of clothing waste in the United States today. When is it time to donate old clothing, and how often to Americans donate today?
Donations and Waste
Unfortunately, a lot of old clothing is not donated. Americans are buying more clothes than ever (twice as many as just 20 years ago), but a lot of these clothes end up in the trash. In fact, the textiles industry has one of the lowest reclamation rates out of all industries that recycle, and this could stand to change, one may argue. In fact, only about 15% of used clothes end up being donated, and early all the rest are instead thrown away and end up in landfills. All these millions of trashed garments in landfills aren’t doing anyone any good, instead accelerating landfill growth. Many of these clothes are still wearable, so Americans are advised to try and donate old clothing rather than toss it all away. Nearly any type of clothing article can be worn by a new owner rather than end up in landfills.
The good news is that not all clothes are being discarded. The American people already have a robust collective charitable spirit, and this often includes clothing and cash donations. These acts of charity benefit not only American families in need, but also needy peopled around the world. It has been found that around 14.3 million tons of donated American clothes benefit needy people and families around the world. Back in the U.S., most people take part in charitable giving to some level or other, and many high-income donors cite “giving back to the community” as a major reason to donate. Millions of garments are donated every year, which is good news since Americans are buying more clothes than ever. Overall, Americans consume around 20 billion garments, which figures to 68 garments and seven pairs of shoes per person, every year. Rather than let old and unwanted clothes go to waste, American families can help boost current charity rates even more and help prevent clothing waste. How might this be done?
Donate Old Clothing
It is likely that many American households have more clothes in them than they need, and these excess clothes are prime candidates for being donated to Red Cross and related causes. How can someone decide which clothes to give away? There is a simple but effective process for filtering out what is to be donated at a local charity drive.
To begin, everyone in a household can gather up all the clothes and accessories in the house and gather them into a single, huge pile on the floor. This creates a convenient and comprehensive inventory of what is owned, and some people may be surprised by how large this pile becomes. Shirts and pants, dresses, hats, gloves, shoes, coats, and more can be added to this pile. Now that everything is assembled, everyone can start sorting through this pile and decide what to keep, and what must go. Unwanted clothes may be worn out, out of fashion, or redundant. These clothes and accessories can be sealed in bags or boxes, then taken to local charity drives and given away. A donor may even receive a tax deduction form based on the value of everything that they donated, a bonus to giving those old clothes away.