Donating Clothes and Sustainability

You are looking through your closet and notice how packed it is; to get peace of mind, you decide to clean it too to the bottom, without leaving any corner untouched. As you are cleaning, you notice the amount of clothing and accessories that you own is a lot… and as you lol through the piles, you begin to wonder if you really need this much and even begin to think of the last time you even wore some garments and accessories. What comes next? You head to the kitchen or to your storage room and grab a bag to put all the items you no longer use. You gather your items and the bag begins to fill up rather quickly when you least notice, there's more than one bag! Now your closet is cleaned and full of space, your mind is at peace with how organized everything looks. Mission accomplished! But now comes the tricky part, you look to see the bags full of clothes and shoes that you decided to get rid of… what is your next move? Dump it in the trash, or look for your town’s donation bin? Your decision is very crucial… more crucial than you can imagine. Any decision taken will lead to a huge outcome.. but will the outcome become a positive or negative one?

I know this has happened to many of us, as shoppers and fashion enthusiasts, many will try to keep up with the trends or just shop for what is necessary when it comes to fashion. Some of us will buy what we like, and others will buy according to the greatest fashion trends. Either way, the ending stage for the clothes or items we buy regardless of the reason, will always be one: I don’t use this anymore. No shame in that! Situations change and our closets do as well. The crucial part of this process is the decision we take on what we do with what we don’t use anymore. The sad part is that many people of all ages have opted for picking the option of throwing the clothes and accessories that they don’t use anymore into the trash. While technology has advanced, and the way materials are destroyed in dumpsters has also evolved, there are many reasons why throwing clothes and accessories into the garbage is an extremely negative one. For one, regardless of the advanced technology that we have nowadays, most landfills do not have the technology to break down every single material to perfection. Clothes have a harder time breaking down and waste more energy, that is why most landfills are filled with clothing that will not be broken down to just fibers unless every fashion company decides to invest in the breaking down and recycling of material. But since that is not the case, disposed of clothing will have a terrible effect on the environment. According to the World Resources Institute, it takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt. And when consumers throw away clothing in the garbage, not only does it waste money and resources, but it can take 200+ years for the materials to decompose in a landfill. During the decomposition process, textiles generate greenhouse methane gas and leach toxic chemicals and dyes into the groundwater and our soil.

Another scary fact is that Americans 84 percent of clothes and textiles end up in landfills and reasons like this have caused the fashion industry to be a responsible factor for global warming. However, many companies are attempting to have more sustainable practices and have begun the recycling of textiles. As consumers, there is a great option that can help us stop unsustainable practices and encourage recycling practices. One may be wondering… how can this be done? Well, since many of us do not own companies that can help in the recycling of textiles in a technological manner, we do have a great option which is donating. Instead of throwing the bag of clothing and accessories that we have decided that we don’t use anymore, we can head to our town’s nearest donation bin and place everything in there. Elizabeth Clime, a writer for Quarts magazine explains that while the donated clothes we give can help keep children, adults, and elders keep warm and dressed, a portion of the donated clothes also get recycled which causes a great effect on the environment. If more people opted to donate the clothing that they don’t use anymore, then practices of sustainability will become more common. This could also lower the large number of textiles that are left at landfills to decompose. Donating over wasting is one step to becoming more sustainable.

Now picture this, you have finished cleaning your closet, everything you decided to keep is organized cleanly. You turn to look over at the bags of clothes you decided that you no longer use, the question comes up again… What do you do with these bags? You load them into your car and deposit them into a donation bin. You have successfully ensured clothing for those who need it more and you have also lowered the percentage of textiles left to decompose at landfills, helping the environment while practicing sustainability. You get back in your car and head back home, you have taken one more step to a better world.

Here are some places you can donate to.