Apr 2
Declutter to Do Good
Keep putting off the big wardrobe clear out? Feel anxious about the big pile of clothes destined for landfill? Don't worry, we’re here to put your mind at ease, showing you how to do good for the planet and people by donating your preloved items.
With a truck-full of clothing ending up in landfill every second (gag), the thought of my clothes being in that truck terrifies me. What’s similarly gut-wrenching is the fact that 95% of those clothes can be and could have been recycled. So what the hell are they doing in there?? Abort! How then can we prevent our clothes from ending up in landfill or being incinerated? Well, we have some suggestions.
Firstly, we all know that selling our preloved clothes online is a great way to keep our clothes in circulation and provide others with that ‘newness fix’. It’s also a great feeling knowing that you have that little bit extra in the piggybank for a rainy day. But for a lot of us, it’s all just too much hassle. And what about my items that are so preloved they would need a lifetime of TLC to bring them back to life? Sending them off to the local charity shop to deal with certainly won’t make me feel like a good person, and what’s worse is that only 10-30% of donations actually get sold in store, so what are the alternatives?
This is where organisations such as Knickey and Soles4Souls come in. No longer are our only options for donations charity stores and Ebay; NGO organisations, as well as household brands, are smashing the repurposing game. They are offering consumers like you and me the option to donate our old items for good. They are either recycled, repurposed, or given to those in need. I still may have 99 problems but landfill-guilt certainly ain't one.
Here are a list of organisations you need to get on-board with right now
1. Knickey
That’s right, ‘knickey’ does indeed stand for knickers, a brand offering a used-knicker recycling scheme allowing you to send off your old knickers for thermal repurposing (don’t worry, they’re not going to weird men). You even get a free pair in your next order AND their knickers are made from GOTS certified organic cotton. Talk about a win-win.
2. Harper and Wild"
Industry’s first bra recycling programme? Yup, you heard it here first. Bras are particularly polluting and tricky to recycle due to the amount of intricate parts characteristic to their production. Once sent to H&W, each bra is either upcycled or made into fibres used in rugs and insulation. They have recycled over 30,000 bras - will you be joining them? Lift up the ladies as well as your spirits.
3. TerraCyle
‘The world’s first all-in-one system allowing anyone to recycle everything.’ Simply order a cardboard box from them, fill it with your old clothes and textiles (or quite simply, anything) and they’ll take it away ready to be recycled. It really is that simple. Cya landfill.
4. Retold Recycling
Perfect for your wardrobe clearout, Retold is focused specifically on textiles. Helping to keep your clothes out of landfill, Retold repurposes all of your preloved clothes and re-tells their story, either in charity shops, vintage stores or for insulation / repurposing functions. Thank you ReTold, #nolandfill indeed.
5. Souls4souls
Figuring out what to do with old shoes is always tricky - will anyone online really want my Uggs from ten years ago? I hope not, they deserve to stay in the past. That’s where Soules4souls comes in. When you donate a pair of shoes to them, it means a whole lot more than just cleaning out your wardrobe, you’re helping the planet and changing someone’s life. Through their micro-enterprise programme, you are enabling families with the chance to set up their own small businesses, breaking them out of unremitting cycles of poverty. Through this amazing initiative, S4S have kept 66 million pounds of textiles out of U.S. landfills. Incredible, right?
Feeling slightly more optimistic and ready to declutter your wardrobe now? I hope so, we certainly did after finding out about these amazing organisations. Break it down, commit a few hours out of your weekend to Marie Kondo the shiz out of your wardrobe, and whilst you're at it, digitise, digitise, digitise. It’s the perfect time to get your #wardrobezen on. As we like to say- happy closet, happy mind; and now - happy conscious also.