5 Alternatives to Bringing Old Clothes to Goodwill

Easy ways to keep a circular fashion economy in motion.

Photo by Unsplash.

In a materialistic society, it's easy to dispose of items and not consider the environmental and financial impact it will leave.

In 2018, CommonObejctive.co reported that within a given year, ten of the top first world countries, including the United States, spend more money per year on apparel than the poorest 126 countries make per year combined.

Let that sink in.

Just in the United States alone, over 85% of our clothing ends up in landfills each year, when nearly 95% of all of our textiles can be recycled or repurposed.

Recycling clothing can be as small as donating them to a local thrift store and as big as selling your used clothing across the country to someone who wants your piece.

Whether you're a broke college kid trying to sell the surplus of clothes filling your two dorm drawers or you're living at home and want to do better for your community and the environment, continue reading to learn how to recycle clothing and make a little money while you're at it!

Gif by Giphy.

1. Donate to organizations that support a real cause

So you're probably wondering, "Why not Goodwill?"

Well, in recent years, Goodwill has been responsible for unfair treatment of employees, specifically those with disabilities. This “nonprofit” accepts nearly all types of donations, but at what cost? They sell the donations for prices higher than what their employees are paid and donate less than a quarter of their profits to charities they pledge to support.

Why support a business model like this when tons of other organizations around you actually appreciate donations and properly distribute the profits?

If you’re short on time and want to drop everything off at just one place, do some research and find local organizations that accept donations. With the ability to get information within seconds, finding these shops are just a Yelp review or Google search away.

Some of the most popular alternative nonprofits to donate to that directly support their employees or charities are the SPCA or church-based thrift shops.

If supporting anti-animal cruelty or religious organizations is not something you’re very passionate about, many organizations accept clothes that directly support homeless populations and sexual violence victims who need assistance getting back on their feet.

Either way, next time you’re driving around town, keep an eye out for hole-in-the-wall thrift shops that are in need of your donations. Don’t be afraid of putting in a bit of effort to make sure your clothes are going to the correct people and organizations.

2. Sell your clothes to local consignment stores

Consignment stores are the curated and trendy new thrift stores. Unlike thrift shops that usually accept all types of donations in any condition with no added benefit for the person donating, consignment stores typically offer store credit or cash on the spot for clothes customers bring in to sell or trade.

Again, just a quick Google search can lead you to the best consignment shops in your area. With similar purposes and processes, these shops are typically curated to their target market and frequently buy quality clothing that fit current trends and market desires.

For example, a consignment shop near me that I get over half of my clothes from, Freestyle Clothing Exchange, is curated mostly for Gen-Z and Millennial shoppers. However there are multiple other stores curated for children, older adults, and even luxury designer items.

The employees buy trending and vintage brands and styles of clothing depending on the season and resell them for a fraction of the original cost you would see in stores.

“As a recycled fashion company, it is our mission to make our community aware of the positive effects that recycling fashion can have on the environment around them and remind others that the things they no longer want still have value..” -Freestyle Clothing Exchange, About Us

Photo of curated outfits at Freestyle Clothing Exchange by Natasha Avalos (2021).

Recycling your clothes back into the community not only allows a form of circulation to keep items out of landfills, but consignment shops also encourage secondhand shopping by selling items similar to what’s in stores already.

Whether you’re looking for some quick cash or ready to reset your closet, consignment stores are a great way to recirculate your clothing and get the most bang for your buck!

3. Trade clothes between friends

Who doesn’t like free clothes? You know that one jacket your friend has that you’re obsessed with? It’s not her style anymore, but your old sweater totally is. Why not swap it out together?

Family hand-me-downs from cousins and older siblings may be more familiar to us, but the truth is that we dress more like the friends we surround ourselves with (that’s why we’re friends, right?).

Trading clothes is more than just, “Here, I’ll take this and you can have that,” it can be a bonding experience while also keeping textiles out of landfills. Instead of worrying about your clothes getting into the wrong hands of an organization or being shorted about how much your clothes are actually worth, keep it all in the friend circle.

Make it a party! Gather all the clothes you’re done with and tell your friends to do the same. You can all then meet at someone's house or even have a cute picnic and go through each other’s clothes at the park.

Not only will it be a fun time to be together reminiscing on old outfits, but it is also an easy way to recirculate pieces of clothing instead of letting them go to waste!

Who knows, maybe you’ll be able to expand to do an entire community trade like the Isla Vista Trading Post who collects UCSB students’ donations and puts on events to give away the free clothing right back to the community.

Photo of a community clothing recirculation event by @ivtradingpost (2022).

4. Sell on online marketplaces

If you like the idea of consignment shops but can’t find a good one near you, never fear, the internet is here!

As consumer demands rise for more environmentally friendly retail, many businesses are adapting to this shift and allowing opportunities for more buying and selling of used clothing online.

There are two typical approaches to this method:

1. A user would post their own clothing on a platform and set their own prices using categorization, hashtags, and the algorithm to boost it to sell or

2. A user would visit an online consignment shop and try to sell clothes to them, however the user does not get to set their own prices and must accept whatever the shop offers them.

You can think of this method as an example of the world’s biggest garage sale - a global initiative and online lazy persons mecca that is even less work than sorting through hoards of clothes at the local thrift shop.

After your product sells, the customer often pays for shipping and you, the seller, package the item, print the shipping label, and send it off while you wait for the cash to deposit to your account!

The most popular online platforms for this approach are Depop, Poshmark, and Facebook Marketplace if you prefer a more local audience.

Depop app via Forbes (2018).

For people who want to sell their clothes without frequent monitoring of their online “shop”, option number two just might do the trick. This option is most similar to your typical day at your local consignment shop: sifting through sustainable styles but virtually and from the comfort of your home.

ThredUp, one of the biggest online consignment shops, encourages users to send in their used clothes, the shop resells them on the website, and once an item sells, the cash or store credit is posted to your account.

The most popular online platforms for this approach include ThredUp, The Real Real, and Kidizen.

5. Keep it in your closet

I know what you’re thinking, “Keep it in my closet? I’m reading this because I want my clothes OUT of my closet!”

I totally hear you, but this is our last resort if none of the previous alternatives don’t work out for you. You may think you’re done with what you’re getting rid of, but you might regret it later.

If you have the space, keeping clothes in your closet allows you to recirculate back to it later. Trends come and go so often that you won’t even realize that your 2008 low-rise jeans that you were about to get rid of are already back in style!

Keeping old clothes on hand is helpful for when you have a guest who spilled on their pants and needs to borrow a pair or an unexpected sleepover where someone needs a set of PJs (aka your old sweatpants and NSYNC band tee).

You never know when you’ll need them, but keeping old clothes is better than throwing them into the landfill or giving them to the wrong business that may do more harm than good.

Gif by Giphy.

So the next time you're doing a closet clean-out, keep in mind the ways your used clothes can better the community or even make you a little money on the side!