When your closet is bursting with unwanted clothing items and you’re starting to feel the strain of a cluttered and messy household on your shoulders, it’s time to consider donating clothing to charity. This act is one of many small and nearly imperceptible forms of kindness you can contribute to your community at large, helping families in need and bolstering the health of the environment in one fell swoop. Most charity foundations even offer free pick-up services, to better help you help them! Why don’t we take a look at clothing donation in all its glory, from its noted reduction in landfill costs to its benefit on your surrounding neighborhoods and environment as a whole.

Clean Your House, Clear Your Mind

Did you know a messy environment can negatively impact your mental and emotional health? Ongoing surveys have found those with consistently cluttered home and office environments are more prone to the common cold and depression-like symptoms than those who are cleaner, which is nothing to say of the impression it can leave on friends and family who visit! Donating clothes to charity is a simple and easy way of clearing up your home’s mess and doing a little good in the process. Who said spring cleaning had to happen in the spring?

The Environment Could Use A Little Love

Cleaning the environment seems like an impossible chore at time. The world is enormous and garbage seems to accumulate en masse, no matter what you do! However, it’s all in the little things — Americans recycle or donate only 15% of their used clothing, which means major change actually starts very small. Over 45% of recycled clothing is worn secondhand and the vast majority of household textiles can be recycled, regardless of their quality or age. When ten million tons of clothes are sent to landfills every year, you have to start somewhere!

Write Off Those Taxes

It can be a real pain trying to figure out your finances when tax season rolls around. Thankfully, donating clothing to charity can be a real hole in one. Men’s overcoats and suits are worth around $60 in a tax write-off, while a charitable donation worth more than $250 overall can give you a significant boost on your tax form. Even furniture and unused items, such as coffee makers, can net you a bare minimum of $15 or $20. Remember to keep your receipts!

Help Your Community Out

Donating clothing to charity all comes down to helping everybody out. The average American buys at least twice as many pieces of clothing as they did 20 years ago, with textiles accounting for nearly 5% of municipal waste. It’s been found the majority of social media users (at an estimated 70%) would take a form of action in response to a friend posting about a recent charitable donation.

Donating Clothing To Charity

So, you’ve learned that donating clothing to charity can give you a break during tax season and help out the environment at large by keeping useful textiles away from landfills. You want to help out your community and give some gently used clothes or furniture to those who need it most, but you’ve got a busy schedule that won’t accommodate a trip or two to your local charity organizations. Call for a pick-up! The majority of charitable donation services offer clothing drop off, where they swing by your place of residence and pick up any items you have by your door. Helping your community, and humanity at large, has never been easier!