A world of good starts with a single action. How do you spread the goodness around?
Are you the type of person to open up a yard sale filled with discounted and free items to free up space in your garage? Perhaps you like to donate some of your food and time at the local soup kitchen to give back to your community. For those that are still becoming acquainted with the art of a little good, a Red Cross clothes donation can check off quite a few boxes for you and others. Red Cross works every single day of the year providing clothes to families in countless communities, cleaning up the environment and giving back to everyday people all in one fell swoop.
That unwanted sweater or ill-fitting pair of jeans in your closet? It has the potential to hold a world of good.
Donating to charity can be done in many ways. Some people donate unwanted cans of soup and beans to local soup kitchens. Others like to give away furniture they no longer need or want. Studies have shown over 70% of people in the United States will give to charity every year, totaling up to 3% of the total American income. Non-profits, in particular, contribute an annual value of $650 billion to the American economy. As you can imagine, American Red Cross clothing donations make up a big part of this.
Americans consume nearly 20 billion garments every year. Need a smaller number? That’s around 65 garments and seven pairs of shoes per person or more than one piece of clothing purchased each week. Clothing donations are a vital way of making sense of these astronomical figures and getting useful textiles back into local communities or local industries instead of landfills. Your Red Cross clothes donation isn’t just thoughtful. It’s actually vital to supporting the environment and your community at large.
Landfills are a notorious drain on the environment. They accumulate harmful chemicals, bacteria and rot, affecting nearby plant life, animal life and polluting the air despite their distant proximity. Donating clothes is essential to reducing landfills and stimulating the local economy, with studies showing the vast majority of household textiles can be recycled without a drop in quality. This includes linen, spandex, latex, wool and cotton, among others. Internationally over 14 million tons of donated American textiles help provide families cost-effective materials worldwide.
When Americans throw away an average of 10 pounds of clothes per person every year? It’s time to go against the flow, dig into your closet and start finding clothes you don’t want anymore. Whether it’s a pair of leggings that have a small hole in one leg or a jacket that just doesn’t suit your tastes anymore, your unwanted items can be resold at a nearby thrift store if they’re gently used or offered to Red Cross clothing pick up to be recycled. The American National Red Cross is the 13th largest American charity as ranked by private donations.
Red Cross clothing pickup services are particularly convenient if you have a fixed schedule that doesn’t change much. All you have to do is box up your gently used clothing items and give them directions to your address. They’ll come pick up your clothes, send them off to Red Cross and start the work of helping out the environment and the economy. Not sure which clothes to throw out? Take some time this week to sort out the ones you wear often from the ones you haven’t worn in months.
Your Red Cross clothes donation is just about ready to do a world of good.
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