With the changing of seasons and trends in fashion, spring cleaning, or just chasing down a New Year’s resolution, several of us dive into the time-honored act of purging our wardrobe and doing a detox. However, what percent of donated items go to a new home and serve some kind of realistic purpose to someone who truly needs them.
Of the many items we drop at charities with good intentions, up to 84% eventually end up in landfills according to the EPA. To clarify this, statistics from the Council for Textile Recycling show the average US citizen discards approximately 70 to 81 pounds of unwanted textiles annually. The materials are classified as resale, recycling, down-cycling, and export before being sold in bulk as salvage.
Let’s look into the bleak story of fast fashion clothing using an imaginary illustration taking a trip beyond-the-donation-bin. Picture that lovely boat-necked poly blend beige sweater that you loved, but now it’s time to let it go. We’ll explore some possible outcomes surrounding this one article of clothing and expand our understanding of the situation.
You Give Your Sweater to a Neighborhood Charity
Despite the good intentions, up to 90% of garment contributions to Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other charities are recycled by textile companies. In actuality, a sizable part of donated clothing is frequently in subpar shape and unfit for wearing by another person.
Textile waste mills can recycle your clothes unless it has mildew or has been soiled with a solvent like gasoline.
Then your sweater might be used as carpet padding, insulation, rags, or even shipped abroad if it isn’t picked up, or they are chopped into rags for use as industrial trash.
Many textile recyclers will take a fraction of the clothing they don’t think they can sell in the United States, package it by gender, size, and season, and produce enormous bundles of clothing that they then sell by weight to be delivered to less developed nations.
Local indigenous markets have suffered greatly as a result of these things being sold at “bend over” street markets.
You Put Your Sweater in a Charity Box at the Side of the Road
Many of those containers are for-profit textile recycling businesses that pass themselves off as charitable organizations or donate a tiny portion of their earnings to stay inside the law. Cutting out the middleman and avoiding wasting labor at Goodwill stores may sound like a smart idea since just 10% of the products given to a real store are sold. However, this method deprives reputable philanthropic organizations of funding.
While charitable organizations like Goodwill occasionally sell contributions to thrift store patrons, a large portion of the proceeds go toward funding neighborhood-based programs.
The purpose of the organization, to provide job placement and training, as well as support services like child care, financial education, transportation, tax preparation, and mentorship, is supported by roughly 80% of the money from the sale of contributions across the Goodwill network.
You Return the Sweater at the Store’s Take-Back Program
Shops including H&M, GAP, Patagonia, Levi’s, Madewell, and others have made announcements about in-store initiatives that let shoppers bring in used clothing. These are separated to be given away, recycled, or made fabric for new clothing—in certain cases in exchange for a discount coupon.
Regrettably, recycling old clothes into new ones weakens the fibers and clothing created from a combination of fibers, such as 95% cotton and 5% spandex, and makes it difficult to separate thin fibers from their original components.
You Throw the Garment in the Trash
A startling 13 million tons of textiles are disposed of annually, which might take up to 200 years to disintegrate in landfills. The environment is further harmed when the poly-blend sweater degrades because greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are produced.
Dos and Don’ts of Donating Clothes
Make sure your clothing is in as good of a condition as you can. Pet hair and lint should not be present on the clothing. Look through your pockets for any rubbish or private stuff.
If there are tears or missing buttons before you donate it, try patching and fixing your clothing some charities may accept items that are torn, discolored, or damaged. For example, Goodwill often sets aside damaged things for its stores or salvage.
Do not donate out-of-season clothing; wait till the season when there will likely be more demand for that kind of clothes.
Additionally, unless a reliable group that is present in the devastated region specifically requests it, you shouldn’t contribute clothing, especially brand-new goods, to disaster relief operations. The majority of clothes donated in the wake of catastrophes won’t be functional since relief groups often lack the funds to clean, sort, and prepare donated items for use by those in need.
Trying More Sustainable Options
With the way busy our lives have become we need quick fashion solutions. Similar to the wisdom of investing in a sturdy car for the daily grind, it’s all about investing in durable, high-quality garments that stand the test of time.
The lifespan of your garments can be extended in several ways than donation such as hand-me-downs and clothing exchanges.
Look for methods to fix them, up-cycle using Pinterest-inspired ideas, sell, trade online, or use them as rags around the home, apply these tricks to extend the life of your beloved items.
Always recycle as a last option. As we can see, every scenario for the warm pullover we impulsively bought has a continuing negative influence on our environment and community. Changing our perspective is also a component of this.
Choosing wisely where and in what manner you donate your clothes allows you to have the most benefit from being charitable while doing something towards the greater good of the world – a kinder one for all of us!