If you’re interested in making donations for military families, The Military Order of the Purple Heart accepts clothes donations. As you know, The Purple Heart is awarded to soldiers that were wounded or killed while serving their country in the military. This military decoration is given in the name of the president, and approximately 1.7 million have been awarded to date.
When you make donations of clothing and household textiles, it also helps prevent these items from being dumped in America’s landfills. Recent figures show that the typical person in the United States is responsible for 82 pound of textile waste every year.
Furthermore, Americans currently donate or recycle just 15% of their used clothing items. The remainder, which consists of roughly 10.5 million tons every year, ends up in the country’s landfills. This points to the fact that textiles have the lowest recycle rates of any material that could be reused or repurposed.
Approximately 2 million tons of used clothing is recycled by people throughout the United States, however. While less than 50% of this clothing is worn again, 30% is cut into pieces to use for industrial rags. Couch stuffing and home insulation use 20% of the clothing that is recycled, which is shredded for this purpose..
If you’re not sure what to donate, you may want to go through your outfits. How many do you have, and how many do you actually wear on a regular basis? In 1930, for example, the average woman in the United States had 9 outfits in her closet. Currently, her modern counterpart has 30 outfits, which basically means a different outfit for every day of most months.
When you discover that there are items in your closet and dresser than you no longer wear, you can collect these for donation. It’s important to remember that they don’t have to be in perfect condition. Buttons and zippers can be replaced, hems can be re-sewn, and other issues, such as small rips, can also be repaired.
After you have collected the items you wish to donate, you can call to have them picked up. This makes donating both easy and convenient. You may also want to post a note on your social media sites to inspire friends and family to make donations for military families as well.