Are you interested in donating to charities this year? Like most things in life, we?re more likely to commit to something if it is an easy and straightforward process. Sometimes, donating to a charity can feel complicated or like a difficult task to accomplish. What if you could work with organizations that pick up donations so you don?t have to go through the hassle of finding the location and dropping off the items? Luckily, these types of programs now exist making donating even easier and more convenient for Americans.

Interested in learning more about how to make a difference in your community with charitable donations like clothing donations? Keep reading for more information about why giving back is so important and how to easy it can be.

Why Donating to Charities is Essential to the United States

Americans are known for being committed to giving back in whatever way they can. To get specific, nearly 95% of people living in the United States go out of their way to donate to a charity of their choice during the year. In fact, 2 million tons of clothing were donated to charities in 2011 across the country. To put that into a numerical context, in 2007, there were clothing donations made to charities throughout the United States that totaled $5.8 billion.

If Americans stopped donating their used clothing and people stopped buying used clothing, the world would be wasting so much every single year. Already, every day of the year, each person generates around 4.5 pounds of trash. That means, for one person, 1.5 tons of waste is created every year. If we weren?t donating clothing, that number would be even higher.

Unfortunately, much of what is thrown away by Americans could instead be reused or recycled. The Environmental Protection Agency states that when it comes to waste, around 75% can be recycled. Of that amount, only around 30% is actually recycled the proper way. This can be done in many ways. Not only can people donate their used clothes so that they are reused by other people, but also Americans can consider how other items and food products they use impact the environment.

For example, newspapers are one item that could be recycled more frequently. 25 million trees could be saved every year if people made an effort to recycle just 10% of the newspapers they receive or buy. One way to handle our food waste is to consider composting instead of throwing it all in the trash. This would help reduce greenhouse gas. Currently, there are 21 millions of food that are simply wasted every year. Composting would equal the equivalent of getting rid of 2 million cars in terms of greenhouse gases.

How to Donate Your Used Clothing and Household Items

The next time you decide to go through your home and gather items to donate, remember you don?t necessarily have to find a location to drop these items off at. All you have to do is research organizations that pick up donations. Then, you gather all your items and organize them efficiently into bags and boxes. Simply call up one of these organizations that pick up donations and they?ll pick up clothing donations or other donations to give to charities.

Some of the clothing and household items you donate go directly to the needy. There are plenty of people who can benefit from receiving free or low-cost gently used clothing items. In addition, your used clothes can also be used for other purposes. For example, around 30% of used clothing donations become industrial rags. Another 20% of it is cut up and shredded so that it can be stuffed into couches and used as home insulation. You probably wouldn?t have thought of these creative uses for old clothing. That?s why it?s so important to support these organizations that pick up donations to drop off to charities.

Are you more likely to make donations if an organization picks up your items and drops them off for you? Let us know about your experience donating to charities in the past.