For such a long time, humans would throw away almost anything that no longer served them without a second thought. Now that we know how harmful that practice is, we all need to adjust how we treat items we may no longer need. Thinking all about the sustainability of donating means understanding how such a small act can have a large impact in ways we may not immediately consider.
Keeping Clothes Useful
The last time you threw clothes in the trash, how many of them would you actually consider garbage? Most of the time, clothes we might consider to be trash are still donatable. Clothes that end up in landfills take a very long time to break down, releasing pollutants into the air and water in the process. Reusing these clothes means that people who might not have equal access can find what they need.
Reducing Fast Fashion’s Effects
Fast fashion is an unfortunate reality that has risen out of clothing companies’ desire to reduce costs and increase profits. Fast fashion is a dangerous industry that does serious harm to our environment with every year that goes by. Invest in clothing that is more evergreen, and always make sure to donate clothes you no longer wear rather than throwing them away.
Saving the Water Supply
Certain manufacturing processes play a huge part in the degradation of our environment. The textiles used in most clothing products require countless gallons of water for production. The demand for these products drives clothing companies to continue using water without thinking about the consequences. Your donation of items that use a lot of water in their production means the water consumed in making the clothes goes further than just one person.
Supporting a Circular Economy
A circular economy deemphasizes personal consumption in favor of sustainability. Rather than creating products that are used once and then trashed, we can shift our focus to creating reusable products and programs that make recycling easy. This is important for our future because our planet has a finite number of resources. Donating what you can is one of the best ways to encourage a circular economy.
Preventing the Spread of Plastic Contaminants
It’s more than just clothes that are an issue in our environment. We already know the plastics industry is a huge problem for sustainability. The production of plastics uses significant amounts of finite resources and creates large amounts of pollution. At the same time, the resulting products hurt the environment as they break down when they end up in landfills or the ocean. Repurposing plastic products, such as certain clothing and toys, is a key component of sustainability and why we donate.