Are you in the process of buying a new home? Furnishing an entire home can be so overwhelming: you have to buy everything from rugs to curtains at the same time. Trying to decide upon patterns and styles can be time-consuming, but if you take a trip to your local Red Cross donation center or other recycled clothing thrift store, you could find everything that you need – all in once place. The average American consumer is used to buying clothing new, but they may not realize that a clothing donation center sells more than just clothes.
Typically, a Red Cross donation center will have clothing, shoes, housewares, and even curtains. If you’re having a hard time finding something, let the staff know and they can point you to the right section. Buying new can be extremely costly, and taking the time to go to a Red Cross donation center or thrift store can help save time and money. Once you have your paint colors picked out for each room in your new home, go to a clothes donation center and see what you can find. Every year, Americans send more than 12 million tons of clothing to landfills that could have been re-used. Recycling efforts are helping save people money, and are also cutting down on the amount of reusable clothing that is wasted every year.
If you’ve never been to a Red Cross donation center before, you should know that more than 70% of the entire world is committed to using recycled clothing. Donation centers sort used clothing by quality: t-shirts and other textiles that don’t make it into the clothing donation centers are often made into cleaning rags. If you have a mop at home that takes flat pads, you can actually cut up recycled shirts and pants and use them instead. Just measure the size of the pad and cut your own from shirts that you get at clothes donations stores. It’ll be cheaper and you’ll be helping minimize waste.
Every year, recycling and donation stores help remove more than 2 billion tons of usable clothing from landfills. Recycling efforts also help cut down on the pesticides and chemicals that are often used to make new clothes. The average American adult has more clothing than they tend to wear: if you have had a coat or a shirt for more than two years and have yet to wear it, consider making a donation to your local clothing donation pickup. Someone else would be more than happy to use it, and you’ll free up space in your closet for new clothes. In general, we tend to buy more clothing than we wear: most Americans own more than seven pairs of jeans but only wear two or three on a regular basis.
Whether you are considering making used clothing donations or benefiting from other’s donations, recycling clothing is definitely having a positive impact on the environment. The average pair of socks takes more than five years to biodegrade, and nylon clothing may take as many as 40 years to break down. Seeing clothing that could be used by children and families make its way to the landfill is discouraging, but local recycling efforts are inspiring more people to donate clothes every year. There are often local clothing pickups available, and donations are often tax-deductible. Whatever the occasion, clothing donation stores would be delighted to receive usable clothing, sheets, shoes, and curtains in good condition.
