Picture this: you’re standing in your closet surrounded by clothes on hangers, clothes on shelves and maybe even close on the floor. As you look at all your clothes, you think to yourself how the heck am I going to get rid of all this clutter?

The answer to your question is simple: donate your old clothes. The fact is there are many groups in the United States including US veterans, the homeless, the poor who are in dire need of basic necessities such as clothes and toiletries. By making donations of clothes and other items, you’re helping them to get the basic essentials and helping in some small way to improve their quality of life.

It’s easy to think, “Oh I’ll just throw my old clothes away,” but that’s not the best choice for used clothing. When you look at the statistics about used clothing and how much Americans end up throwing away the numbers are pretty staggering.

In recent years the United States has stepped up its efforts to recycle all kinds of material. But even so, the average American tosses 82 pounds of textile waste every year. It’s also true that Americans are buying twice as many clothes as they did even 20 years ago, so when you add it up that’s a lot of clothing. It’s estimated that nearly 100% of clothing and textiles can be recycled, yet research indicates that 12 million tons of clothing and textile waste is thrown out by Americans annually.

So what does that mean for you? It means you can do a lot of good for a lot of people with your clothing donations and you can help the environment at the same time. If you’re wondering where can I donate clothes, there are many organizations in the United States that accept charitable donations of clothing and other items and who also do charity pick ups.

A quick search of “Where can I donate clothes online” might lead you to organizations such as the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross or GreenDrop. These organizations gladly accept clothing donations and you can very easily schedule pick-up times for drivers to come through your neighborhood and to your home to pick up your donations.

Even if you tend to have a hard time parting with your clothing, your donations to veterans charities, military charities and other charities around your area can prove invaluable. Let’s be honest: even if fashion is your thing and you’re the type of person who wears a different outfit every single day, the odds are pretty good that there are many items in your wardrobe that you hardly wear it all. Think about the seasonal code that you have hanging out that you might wear four or five times during the year. Think about all of the T-shirts you have in a drawer and how many of them you haven’t worn in a long time.

A good rule of thumb to follow is that if it hasn’t been worn in 6 months, it can probably end up in a donation bin. Another good rule of thumb is to never donate junk. Rarely or lightly worn clothing donations work best and you don’t want to donate boxes full of ripped jeans and shirts. If it’s good enough to give to a family member, it’s good enough to donate.

If you’re new to donating and wondering where can I donate clothes oh, you can ask around your neighborhood to figure out where the clothing donation drop off spots are. Your donations will go a long way to helping families in need and you can feel good about helping your fellow Americans.

So rather than staring aimlessly at the piles and piles of clothes in your closet, ask yourself, where can I donate clothes? Consider what a difference some clothing donations can make. You make a positive difference in someone’s life, eliminate a lot of clutter in your closet and save a lot of your clothes from ending up in a landfill.