Donating old clothes to charity benefits both the environment and society. Ensure they are wearable and donate before a new season starts. Special items can be donated to specific programs, and some stores offer consignment options for donations.
Donating old clothes to charity is a great idea for many reasons. It’s a great way to de-clutter your closets and drawers. The environment also benefits as clothes thrown away rather than donated end up in landfills. Donating old clothes can be especially beneficial to society as people in need of affordable clothes often have access to donated clothes.
Make sure the clothes you donate are wearable. Yes, there are people who really need affordable used clothes, but no one should be wearing stained or ridiculously outdated clothing. Look for a place that recycles fabrics and/or uses old, stained or dated clothes as rags for house cleaning and dusting. Stained but clean towels and blankets are often appreciated as donations from animal shelters.
The best time to donate old clothes is just before a new season starts. You can empty your closets and drawers of clothes you won’t be wearing anymore and make room to buy new clothes. And when you donate your old clothes in season, thrift stores and other charities will be able to distribute or sell the clothes faster rather than having to store them for another season. In particular, smaller organizations may not have much storage space.
If you have some very special clothing to donate, such as a glamorous evening gown or a collection of career, maternity, or baby clothes, you can often find special programs in your area that need these items. For example, many communities have an organization that offers used prom dresses and suits to high school students. Some cities have employment programs to help people find work, so you may want to help by donating old clothes that are still appropriate for job interviews and office environments. Baby and maternity clothes can be donated to parenting groups or programs for young mothers.
Some thrift stores accept clothing donations on a consignment basis. This means that when someone buys your items, you can earn cash or store credit. This can work especially well if you buy secondhand clothes from the store anyway. This way you can almost swap your old clothes for new clothes while keeping costs to a minimum.
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