Do you have a closet full of clothes you don’t wear? Boxes of seasonal wear piled up in the basement? Piles and piles of clothes you have no idea what to do with?
If you do, you’re not alone. It’s estimated the average American buys twice as much clothing as they did 20 years ago. Any way you add that up, that’s a lot of clothing, much of it sitting on hangars hardly worn.
So what can you do with all that extra clothing? One of the best things you can do is to donate it. Surveys have shown that more than 95% of Americans donate to charity in some way. Clothing donations are one of the biggest and most popular ways of donating. Many organizations do some form of charity clothing pickup, where you can box up all of your excess duds and pass them on to folks in need.
There are many good reasons to donate and participate in a charity clothing pickup. For one thing, there are many groups from American veterans, to the homeless to the disabled who are in need of basic essentials including clothing and toiletries.
The statistics don’t lie when it comes to the benefits of donating clothing:
- In 2007, about $5.8 billion worth of clothing donations were made to American charities.
- In 2011, about two million tons of clothing and textiles were recycled or donated to United States charities.
- Around 80% of donated clothing is used by United States charities for donation to needy folks and for funding.
- Nearly 100% of clothing and textiles can be recycled.
- The average American tosses around 82 pounds of textile waste each year and around 12 million tons of clothing and textile waste is tossed out every year.
Thankfully, there are many organizations that offer a charity clothing pickup. Organizations like GreenDrop, the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross do charitable clothing pickup regularly. In many cases, all you have to do is go online or call a phone number to set up an appointment and pickup drivers will come right to you to collect your items.
It’s been noted that there are plenty of benefits to make clothing donations, but if you’re going to do it, it’s important to keep a few things in perspective. For one thing, you want to take time and sort through the items you’re actually donating. Rarely or gently used clothing is best and you want to avoid donating junk. A rarely used coat can absolutely be donated; a pair of tattered, torn jeans probably shouldn’t be donated. There’s nothing wrong with being a Good Samaritan and helping those in need, but a good rule of thumb to follow is if clothing is good enough to give to a family member, it’s good enough to donate to charity and to a charity clothing pickup.
There are numerous ways to donate to American veterans, the homeless, the poor and other groups who are in need of help. Your donations of clothing can be a godsend to the less fortunate and charity pickups have never made donating easier. By donating items—and avoiding donations of junk—you’re passing on need items to charitable organizations such as military charities and veterans charities that can do a lot of good for a lot of people.
