Three Big Environmental Benefits of Donating Clothing to Charity

We all try to help out the environment in a variety of ways. From recycling our paper and plastic to taking shorter showers, we all do our part for the planet when we can. However, some of the steps we take to save the ecosystem can be as simple as cleaning out our closets.

Did you know that donating clothing to charity can actually have a positive environmental impact? It’s true, and best of all, there are several ways that you can give your gently used clothing donations to charity organizations. Clothing donation pickups, secondhand stores, and drop boxes are all great ways to contribute to these local and global causes.

How does donating clothing to charity help the environment and other people? Check out these facts:

1. Helping Families in Need: Clothing donations go toward helping a variety of different people, from families who need help making ends meet to those living in shelters. Because we tend to buy more than we really need, giving clothing to someone who could use it is a great way to offset our excess purchases. These contributions can also lower your tax bill if you itemize your deductions.

2. Diverting Waste from Landfills: Donating clothing to charity is one of the easiest ways to curb the amount of solid waste we produce. The United States produces as much as 11 billion tons of waste each year, or roughly 30% of all waste in the world. At least 5% of that waste consists of fabrics like cotton, polyester, nylon, and rayon, all of which could be recycled instead. By recycling clothing and textiles, which are some of the easiest materials to reuse, we can reduce up to 99% of the clothing waste that contributes to this problem.

3. Curbing the Need for More Production: When we purchase more new clothing, suppliers try to keep up with the demand by pumping out more consumer goods in their factories. However, these companies can be big polluters. Because the average American throws away approximately 68 pounds of clothing per year, that amount likely consists of several outfits and could be donated to charity instead. This reduces the need for more new consumer goods when we’re able to reuse what we’ve already made.

How do you try to make a positive environmental impact? Tell us what you do to recycle in the comments?