Environmental Benefits of Donating Used Clothing (2024)

FAQs

Environmental Benefits of Donating Used Clothing? ›

Reduces Emissions

First, by donating your clothes to Goodwill instead of throwing them in the trash, you prevent them from ending up in a landfill, where they can take years to fully break down, releasing harmful gases into the environment in the process.

It gives your clothes a new life

Donate your unwanted garments to charity and you can let your clothes be loved all over again. You might not be getting much use out of that jumper or suit, but someone else definitely will – and they could be buying it instead of something brand new, too.

It Helps Conserve Energy

It can take up to 2,700 liters of water to produce the cotton used in one t-shirt. It means that if 1,000 people donated a t-shirt, they would save nearly a million gallons of water that companies would spend on making new ones.

In reality, a large portion of donated clothes typically aren't suitable for someone else to wear because they are in poor condition. Those unwanted clothes can then become a problem if they get shipped overseas or worse, incinerated or landfilled.

And when consumers throw away clothing in the garbage, not only does it waste money and resources, but it can take 200+ years for the materials to decompose in a landfill. During the decomposition process, textiles generate greenhouse methane gas and leach toxic chemicals and dyes into the groundwater and our soil.

The Dark Side of Fast Fashion

According to an analysis by Business Insider, fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union. It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year.

Synthetic fibres are the fibres that protect our body in rain. EXPLANATION: The umbrellas and raincoats made from synthetic fibres. The synthetic fibres are more hydrophobic than the natural fibres, hydrophobic means the water repellent.

If you need the money, make the effort to sell your excess—especially when it comes to big, expensive items. But if you do not need the money, just give your things away. Reselling your clutter adds time and energy, anxiety and frustration to the minimizing journey.

Is donating clothes good karma? ›

All the energy you put out always comes back to you — a.k.a. karma — which is why giving away rather than selling your used items creates deposits in the bank of karma. Life is energy, energy is life. All of the energy you put out comes back to you somehow; this includes anything you give away.

Thrifting Reduces Water Footprints and Uses Fewer Chemicals

It takes water to grow cotton: it can take more than 2,700 liters (713 gallons) of water to grow the cotton needed to make one t-shirt; a pair of jeans can take over 10,000 liters of water. In addition, cotton is an extremely pesticide-intensive crop.

In addition to providing safe, sustainable water access to communities in need, our partners also ensure that communities receive comprehensive sanitation and hygiene education to promote long-term health.

In 2022, charity: water celebrated 16 years since our founding in a small New York City apartment. In those 16 years, our generous supporters helped us raise more than $740 million, enough to bring clean water to more than 16.8 million people.