It may not be a surprise to hear that the textiles industry is one of the biggest in the entire world, for clothing, bedding, and table linens. After all, everyone needs clothes to wear, whether it be everyday clothing, formal attire, or even work or military uniforms and jackets or pants. Meanwhile, the United States in particular is one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of textiles, and Americans today are buying twice as many clothes as they did just 20 years ago. The average American woman has an outfit for every day of the month, compared to just nine in 1930. Sometimes, a person may not like some of their older clothes, and choose to visit a clothing donation center and donate clothes as they like. Used clothing donations may often be American Red Cross clothing donations, and Red Cross is open every day of the year to accept new donations. If someone wants to make American Red cross clothing donations, they can follow a simple process to choose what clothes they’d like to give away. What is there to know about clothing in the United States today? What will be made into American Red cross clothing donations?
Donations And Waste for Clothing
Americans are buying more clothes than ever, and some old clothes are donated to charities, but others are simply thrown away instead. The bad news is that the textiles industry has one of the lowest reclamation rates among all industries that have recyclable and reusable materials (steel ranks highest), and this results in some waste. In fact, around 85% of used clothing in the United States today ends up as trash in landfills, and some individuals are discarding clothes rather than making American Red cross clothing donations. This means that millions of tons of old clothes are sent to landfills every year, where they don’t do anyone any good. This also means that the average American is throwing away 70 pounds of linens and clothes per year.
This is not to say that donations have dried up. Far from it. While textiles reclamation rates are not terribly high, they exist, and most Americans contribute to charity to some capacity or other every single year. Some donate clothes, and others donate a percentage of their income or housewares or even kids’ clothes. Many millions of garments are given to charitable efforts, and during the winter holidays such as Christmas and Hanukkah, the charitable spirit is especially high. Improving clothing donation rates may be a matter of stoking this existing charitable spirit and pushing it to new heights. What exists can be improved, and best of all, any American household may be ready and able to donate some old clothing. How can a household make American Red Cross clothing donations?
Making the Donation
Even a household with a lot of clothes can follow a simple process for choosing what to donate. First, everyone will gather all clothing and personal accessories available in the house and assemble them all into a single large pile for convenience. Wardrobes often get scattered over time, making it difficult to gauge how much is really owned. This complete pile is a convenient and total inventory, and some households may be surprised at how large it ends up being. Now, everyone can start sorting through all of these clothes and decide what they will keep, and what is to be donated. Clothing set aside for donations may be old clothing that is out of fashion, worn out, redundant with other items in the inventory, or simply the wrong size. Clothes to be donated may be set aside in boxes or bags for transport later, and once all this is done, the inventory pile might end up being much smaller than before. In some cases, the pile may be half or one third of its original size.
Clothing to be kept is put back, and all donations can be sealed in their boxes or bags and driven to a local charity site, such as Red Cross. Red Cross in particular is open every hour of the day, 365 days a year, making it highly convenient for some donors. Donors may even receive a tax rebate form for the value of all items donated.
