It’s probably happened to you at least once or twice by now. You take a look around your closet and you realize, you have way too many clothes. It’s not just happening to you: Americans consume nearly 20 billion garments each year. Broken down, that’s 68 garments and 7 pairs of shoes per person! When you realize you have more clothes then you’ll ever use, naturally you’ll want to clear out the excess. Instead of throwing them away, consider the option to donate clothes to Red Cross or other charitable organizations that accept used clothing donations. This article will take a look at several reasons for why you should donate clothes to Red Cross and other charitable organizations.
- Clothes Donations Can Go to Help People and Families in Need: One reason to donate clothes to Red Cross or any other charity is because your donations go to help people and families in need. Think about it, if you continue to hold onto clothes that you’ll never really wear again, they go to waste and help nobody. But if you donate the clothes to charity, then they can be put to good use by families in need of good clothing for one reason or another.
- Clothing Donations Can Keep Waste Out of the Landfill: Another reason to donate clothes to charity is because donating instead of throwing items away keeps waste out of the landfill. Sending clothing to the landfill really is a big problem in the United States. According to the EPA, Americans throw away an average of 10 pounds of clothes per person each year. This quickly adds up to millions of pounds when you take the adult population of the country into account. If everyone donated at least half of their used clothing instead of throwing it away, that would literally keep millions of pounds of waste out of the landfill every year.
- Your Donations are Tax Deductible: Finally, a third reason to donate clothes to charity is because your donations are tax deductible. Your donation to your selected charity is tax deductible for the value of the items you donate. In other words, you take the value of the clothing you donate and that makes up your tax deduction, which can be huge especially if you’re making a large donation of clothing.
In conclusion, there are several important reasons to donate your used clothing to charity. These reasons include your donations going to help people and families in need, donating clothes can keep waste out of the landfill, and your donations are tax deductible. These are just a few of the reasons to donate your clothing to charity.