Every year, 70% of people give to charity in the United States. That sounds like a large number, right? Certainly the majority of people are donating, so that’s good. Think about all the benefits if that number increased to nearly 100% of people. The environment would be so much better and the effects we would see around the world would be amazing. Something as simple as one person deciding to donate clothing could change the world. On average, Americans throw away 10 pounds of clothes every year, according to the EPA. Even just counting U.S. adults, that’s still well over 2 billion pounds of clothes being wasted and thrown away every year. That’s 20 billion pounds of garbage in the last 10 years that could have been used for clothing donations. The numbers are mind-blowing.
Why throw out your clothes when you know there are plenty of people around the world who could use them? Aside from the environmental benefits of donating clothes, you will just feel better about doing it. You’ll get a feeling that you’re actually helping out, even though it’s just a small fraction, you still are helping. If more and more people donate then the momentum will pick up even more, and real change can start happening.
Non-profits in America don’t just provide environmental and emotional benefits, but actually provide a lot of money to the economy. Every year, non-profits contribute over $600 billion, the Red Cross is a large part of that as they are one of the largest charities in the United States. Private Red Cross donations totaled over $680 million in the U.S. just two years ago. Red Cross donations are a great and easy way to donate your clothes as well. You can find a Red Cross donation center open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Donating doesn’t have to be this huge difficult ordeal. Plenty of clothing donation centers offer anytime pickup so if you have large amount of clothes you want to get rid of, you don’t even have to do the work. Even if you weren’t planning on throwing away any clothes or donating them, you more than likely have too much clothes, anyways. Old shoes, suits that don’t fit, ties, socks, old jackets, anything helps. Whether you’re making large Red Cross donations or just giving away old clothes to siblings as hand-me-downs, donating your clothing makes a huge difference.
