Clothing and the Environment
Many people own far more clothes than they regularly wear. And yet, simply throwing it away always seems like such a waste. That’s because it is! Many experts say that clothing that hasn’t been worn in the last six months should be taken out of your house. But where are you supposed to take it? Thankfully, there are many organizations that accept clothing donations and will help take the burden of excess clothes off your shoulders.
Donating clothing is one of the best ways to rid yourself of excess clothing. This is because it allows you to pass along old clothing to individuals who may not be able to afford new clothes. In fact, more than three quarters of donated clothes are used by organizations that accept clothing donations to give them to the needy.
Yet, clothing donations do even more. They help protect the planet. Between greenhouse gases and limited space for trash, it is important to be environmentally conscious of our actions. As a result, donating your clothes can help to reduce your carbon footprint!
Top 3 Benefits of Clothing Donations
- Reduce. Organizations that accept clothing donations help us to protect the environment by providing an avenue that allows others to obtain secondhand clothing. Without these organizations, used clothing would take up even more space in landfills. However, we are able to do our part in protecting the environment by donating clothing to charity and reduce the amount of textiles in landfills.
- Reuse. We are also able to protect the environment when we donate clothes, because it means that fewer clothes are required to be made. This results in a reduction of carbon emissions. Reusing old materials means fewer materials need to be created, which protects the environment from even more greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.
- Recycle. Recycling old clothing allows us to conserve energy, because a lot of energy is necessary to produce new textiles and materials. Donating clothing and purchasing it secondhand requires less water and electricity to be used in this process. This is yet another way in which clothing donation allows us to help the environment.
Why You Should Donate Your Clothes
Donating your clothes has many benefits. It helps the environment and it helps those who may be less fortunate. The average American throws away more than 80 pounds of textiles annually. But with clothing donation, we can do our part to reduce this number and reduce our waste. Virtually all Americans already take part in some form of charitable donation each year, so why not donate clothes as well?