Clothing

[trick-r-treat]

I donate a lot of clothes and things to charities. That is another form of recycling and the money goes to good causes.

[Green-Moo]

I too donate all my old clothes in good condition to charity shops and other places where they'll sell them for funds. I buy most of my clothes there too.

[mollyL]

Well, I'll admit that I love to shop at thrift stores, and I'm proud of some of the deals I've gotten. I live in a resort community where women spend their time buying clothes, wear them perhaps once, and then give to the thrift store and go out and buy more. For example, I have a pair of hardly-used LL Bean mary janes (flats with a T-strap) that I'm sure I'll be wearing for the next ten years at least. The price? $1.99 US. Check out your thrift stores, you are recycling while shopping!

[RFL1986]

I always drop off my unwanted clothes for charity and buy almost all of my shirts and sweaters from thrift shops. Aside from most of the basics I actually like thrift shops more, not only because they're cheaper but because there is usually a lot of great items if you have good luck when you go.

[mom2manyboyz]

A few years ago, I started a local chapter of freecycle, so I usually offer my used clothes on the freecycle list. It saves me time dropping them off at goodwill. Usually, I just let the list know the sizes, type of clothing, etc and set them at the curb. They are gone within hours to someone that can use them.

For anyone who hasn't heard of freecycle this is the web address: The Freecycle Network
It's a place to offer ANYTHING you no longer want, so that someone else may reuse it, rather than throwing it away. You can also request items on the list if you have a use for items that people commonly throw away.

[Green-Moo]

I've several friends that I pass children's clothes on to. What goes around comes around and I'm happy to say that I am often offered clothes for my boys too.

[justontime]

I pass used clothes on through freecycle and charity shops. Children grow so fast that their clothes don't get worn out. Freecycle is fantastic and you get to meet lots of nice people. I love visiting charity shops, it is nice to get a bargain and I love buying books. We don't often think about it but charity shops provide an important service when someone dies. My husband died a few years ago, he was very young and it was a traumatic time. When I had sorted through his things I had about ten bin bags of clothes to go to the charity shop. They came to collect it and they were very sensitive too the situation. In a small way it helped to know that his things would help others.

[mom2manyboyz]

I completely agree. Often, I forget to stop at a local thriftshop to browse books or software before buying them new. I try to remember to do this because I think it is valuable to REUSE old items rather than purchasing new ones. It definetly reduces waste.

That is wonderful that the charity was considerate of the difficult time you were having and I'm glad that your husbands items went to help others!

[berlinlife06]

The clothes that are in good condition, I always give away at a charity that is near my house. While I was in Germany, they had bins in the streets where you could drop your clothes/shoes, and that would be taken to centers for poor people.

[mom2manyboyz]

That is interesting about the street bins in Germany Berlin.

In the nearby city where work, they do have a few permanent bins set up for clothes. I think they are sponsored by a local charity as there is a homeless shelter nearby. This is very convenient also.

Actually, I need to get off this computer, do some spring cleaning and get rid of some stuff now!