Americans give a lot to charity. It is estimated that at least 95.4% are active in some form or another or charitable giving. Not all of that is through monetary donations or volunteering. Approximately two million tons of clothing are textiles were donated to charity or recycled in the United States in 2011. So many people want to participate in this activity that there are now charities that pick up clothing donations. Here is some of the good that is done when people donate clothing.

1. Donating clothing helps disaster victims. When there is a natural disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane or massive wildfires, people are often evacuated with nothing but the clothing they are wearing. These people need everything. While most non-profit organizations do say that they prefer monetary donations and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) does not take these kinds of donations, many people assume that they cannot donate clothes. This is not true. There are a number of charities that help these people that can use your used clothes.
2. Donating clothing helps people and families afford clothing. When clothes are donated, either by dropping them off or by working with charities that pick up clothing donations, a lot of what is donated is sold in their consignment shop at a very discounted rate to what is charged in department and even discount stores. This means that families who may not normally be able to afford the items that have been donated, can. Many families in need across the country are clothed by the generosity of others. This can make an enormous difference in people’s day to day lives and is an important reason to donate clothes.
3. Donating clothes provides funds non-profits. The money from the sales of the clothing that has been donated is used to pay most of the costs that organization has. Many charities that pick up clothing donations or accept them at their locations run a number of programs aimed at helping the less fortunate. They rely on the clothing and item donation to provide an array of vital services to the community. Without those donations, they would not be able to do the good work that they do. As much as 80% of the clothing that is donated across the country is used by charities for this very purpose.
4. Is good for the environment. When clothing is thrown away, and not donated or recycled, it ends up in landfills. In the United States, at least 12 million tons of clothing and textiles go to landfills every year. While when clothing is donated, it can be used for a number of purposes, the same cannot be true of pieces tossed in a landfill. There they can only take up valuable space and contribute to global warming. Most clothing can decompose but it will not in a landfill. This is a big problem for the environment. Additionally, a new garment has to be created for every one that heads this way. By donating, the environment is helped twice. By not sending those items to a landfill and by not using valuable resources to make more clothing.
5. Gets you a more organized house. Most Americans have a lot of clothing in their home. The amount of clothing we own is only growing. The average American woman owned nine outfits in 1930. The same woman owns 30 today. That means she can wear a different outfit each day of the month. A lot of us have clothing that we know we will never wear again. We also have children who have grown out of their clothing. Organizational experts recommend going through the closets at least once a year and taking out what has not been worn. The best thing to do with that is to call charities that pick up clothing donations to get unworn clothing working for someone else.
6. Gets you a deduction from your taxes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats clothing donations the same way it does monetary donations. They do require some documentation from the donation but do let people take these as deductions.

Donating clothing, for many, is one of the simplest ways to give back. Charities that pick up clothing donations make the process much easier.