Closet Diet 101: where do your clothes end up when they’re done?

Back to school shopping was one of my favorite times of the year growing up. Once those back to school advertisements hit the airwaves, I knew it was time to ditch the old shirts, pants, and kicks to adopt the latest trends being pimped out at major department stores. I was one of those bold kids that loved working the latest fashion fad. From bell bottom pants to pointy heels (yes I said bell bottoms, don't judge me!) I collected the newest style craze, flaunting my new clothes in the school halls with pride.

Don't get me wrong, my back to school shopping wasn't a frivolous shopping spree to pump my closet full of things I didn't need. I patronized the department stores in hopes of replacing pants past repair, shirts that no longer fit, and substituting shoes that had seen better days.

But all the new wares had to go somewhere, which meant my closet needed a good cleaning and I...HATED...this purging process. It was so hard to part with things that had been in my closet for years. Even if they were discolored and torn, they held a strange nostalgic quality that made it so hard to cast them aside. I also had a tough time determining where to actually dispose of the clothes. Being the oldest sibling had the perk of giving away clothes as "hand-me-downs", but I couldn't hand down things my sisters just refused to take. So I had two options:

1) donate clothes to thrift stores and other organizations

2) dispose of the clothes

Seems simple enough right? For clothes in good condition, I would wash and bag them nicely, dropping them off at the local Desert Industries (utah's salvation army equivalent). Clothes that weren't wearable were thrown into the trash. I didn't really think about the effect this had the environment, because I made some assumptions, the most common one being, "well cotton comes from mother earth so clothes should easily decompose when they are thrown away. No harm to the environment done!"

My line of thinking wasn't far from average. In fact, Americans dispose an average of 68 pounds of clothes per person annually. You didn't read it wrong--68 pounds of clothes are tossed away per person every year. Count all your close family members, their friends, friends of friends, then multiply that by 68. That's a whole lot of pounds.

When it comes to cleaning those closets and skimming out the extra stuff, a lot of reusable clothes end up in landfills. This is definitely no bueno for three main reasons 1) most materials used in your everyday clothes are not environmentally friendly and will not decompose in a timely fashion 2) the harsh chemicals used to dye the clothes can get all mixed up in the soil and drinking water of local communities and 3) perfectly reusable clothing is trashed, when it could serve another purpose.

So what are your options when your closet starts reaching an obese status?

Resell: If you're the type that keeps all your clothes in tip top shape, try reselling them to a local consignment shop like Buffalo Exchange. These stores will pay  you cash for what the clothes are now worth (or give store credit), then repair and resell the items to the public. So it's a win win. Not only do you rid yourself of those items lurking in the back of your closet since '99, your clothes are given a second life with a new customer. Even if you abhore those sparkly hammer pants from 8th grade, they could be another man/woman's wardrobe treasure:)

Donate: Goodwill and Salvation Army are the donation kings when it comes to clothing. There are hundreds of locations of these organizations all over the nation, so there really is no excuse to not haul those extra clothes on over to your local thrift shop. If you are automobily impaired (talking to you citydwellers lol) you can also have the store pick up your unwanted items. You don't get a cut of the profit from the sale of the clothes like a consignment shop, but you get the great feeling of having your clothes used for a good cause.

Rework: If you are really creative you can reuse your clothing items. I know many a girl who have taken scissors to jeans that are a tad too short to be worn seriously in public, crafting a "new" pair of shorts. Relax your mind and let your creative juices flow, who knows what could be cut, sewn, and glued together out of those seeminly unappealing "throw away" clothes.

There you have it folks. There are so many other options for where to put those clothes when they are no longer in your dressing repertoire. Out with the old and in with the new has taken on a whole new meaning:)

What's your closet "diet"? Do you have a favorite place to take those unwanted clothes?

Thanks for reading, and as always

stay fly;)

-CBlack