Are Charity Shops The Best Place For Your Unwanted Clothes?
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Are charity shops really the best place for your unwanted clothes? I take a look at what you should and shouldn’t be donating as well as other options for your unwanted items.
When you have piles of stuff to get rid of, Charity shops can often be your first thought. As the majority of people try to be more environmentally friendly, we tend to want to avoid throwing things away into landfill. We also want to get rid of things quickly.
While of course, we might want to sell more expensive/valuable things, we could still be left with piles of items that we don’t think are really worth anything. With not the time, not the inclination to sell often they end up being donated to charity shops.
And while donating to charity seems like it should be win-win, often it’s not as simple as that.
Are Charity Shops The Best Place For Your Unwanted Clothes?
Some charity shops say that as few as one bag out of every ten bags donated actually has saleable items, especially when it comes to clothes. While the majority of clothes would then be sold on textile recycling companies, a lot of it still ends up in landfill.
It also means volunteers are spending hours upon hours sorting through clothes and other items that are often unsalable, due to being dirty, tatty, stained or holey.
What To Do Instead of Donating To Charity Shops
There are lots of things you can do before donating to charity shops. It may take a little longer to get rid of your stuff, but it’s a great way of ensuring things get rehomed somewhere they can be used or reloves, rather than ending up in landfill.
Advertise Your Items On FreeCycle / Free To Collector
Offering things for free on Freecycle or Facebook Marketplace can be a great way to rid and they will often still end up going to someone who really needs them.
If you don’t want to wait in for people to collect, you could pop the items outside your house with a sign explaining they are free and often they’ll be snapped up pretty quickly if you live in an area with a lot of passing foot traffic.
Give To Friends and Family
If you know of any friends and family that might appreciate some of your items then definitely ask them – they can only say no if they’re not interested. We were given so many clothes for our little girl and we really did appreciate it, most was in great condition and we saved loads as we didn’t need to buy anything new.
Sell and Donate the Money
If you want to get rid of the items and donate to charity at the same time, you sell and then donate the money to your chosen cause. While selling might take a little while, you could speed up the process by offering large bundles of items.
Donate to a Local Refuge
This is something I do a lot, as my Mum’s local church works closely with a women’s refuge. We donated a lot of our baby items once they were outgrown but not in good enough condition to resell (by us or a charity shop). This is a great way to feel as though your items are going to those who need them without donating to a charity shop.
If you’re not sure where to start (as often the location of women’s refuges are kept private) try asking on Facebook if anyone knows where you can donate or speak to your local church or community centre who may be collecting on the refuge’s behalf.
As well as refugees, there are many homeless charities that collect items, in particular coats, gloves and hats.
Re-use, Repurpose and Upcycle
While I completely understand the urge to rid of things, especially if you feel you’ve got a huge build-up of clutter, many things can be reused or repurposed.
I think sewing and mending our clothes is something that we don’t do nearly enough of nowadays. Websites such as Boohooo.com and ASOS encourage fast fashion and when we see little value in the items we’ve bought because they were so cheap to begin with, it can be easy to throw them away without another thought.
Old t-shirts can be used as dusters, buttons can be removed before throwing away old shirts for craft projects.
Do’s and Don’t of Donating To Charity Shops
Do
- Donate clean, washed, wearable items. Think about whether you would be the item if you saw it on sale in its current condition.
- Donate brand new and unused items if you can.
- Check opening times and whether they are accepting donations before leaving home.
Don’t
- Leave items outside if the shop is shut. These could then be damaged, rained on or even wee’d on by passing dogs, cats or rats. Yuck!
- Donate dirty, stained, unwashed, damaged or unwearable items.
- Donate electricals unless you’re sure the shop accepts them.
- Donate broken toys or items with pieces missing.
- Be unkind to staff if the shop isn’t currently taking donations. I’ve seen this a lot lately as shops are just so overwhelmed at the moment.
Final Thoughts: Are Charity Shops The Best Place For Your Unwanted Clothes?
There’s nothing wrong with donating to charity shops, and as someone that buys a lot of her clothes second-hand, I’d be gutted if people stopped donating altogether!
What I do think is that people need to be more mindful of what they donate. I’ve spoken to ladies in my local charity shops who have said they often get bags of stuff from where an elderly relative has died, full of curtains, bedding and clothes that will never sell.
They also said they love donations from young girls who often donate bags full of clothes all of which can be sold. However, this does raise concerns over fast fashion, over-buying and only wearing clothes once or twice. Of course, if the clothes are being resold and worn again that’s great, but I do think brands need to stop encouraging fast fashion purchases in the first place.
Where do you think is the best place for your unwanted clothes? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments!
Other Posts You Might Enjoy:
July Preloved Clothing Bargains: Vinted & Charity Shops
Shopping For Pre-loved Clothes With BuyCharity
Reselling: Is It Unethical To Buy From Charity Shops?
