Owning too much clothing is common here in the United States, especially when you consider the fact that most people don’t know when to donate clothes. But as the typical person of today is consuming around double the amount of clothing as the typical person even just two decades in the past, a mere 20 years ago, knowing when to donate clothes is a matter of considerable importance. After all, the average woman now has around 30 different outfits to choose from, just about one for every day of the month. The average person, therefore, could stand to part with such clothing, at least in part.

It can be hard, of course, knowing when to donate clothes and then what clothing to donate. Fortunately, there are a few rules of thumb to go off of when deciding when to donate clothes and reduce your closet. For one thing, you can simply get rid of anything that has not been worn in at least six months if not longer – at least when you live in a climate that only has one or two seasons. In addition to this, getting rid of anything that does not fit you properly is also going to be quite necessary indeed. If something is too small or too large, this is when to donate clothes. Knowing when to donate clothes can help you to keep your closet smaller and easier to manage and therefore your home that much more organized in the grand scheme of things. As many people struggle to manage their clutter, knowing when to donate clothes is more important than many will realize.

Knowing when to donate clothes can do more in the world as well. After all, there are many charities out there who can repurpose these donated clothes for good. Wounded veterans charities can typically make use of these clothes, as too can various green charities and American Red Cross centers. The American Red Cross is often in particular need of donations, as their centers are open each and every day of the week and every single day of the year, as well as every hour of the day to boot. In addition to provided used donated clothing, American Red Cross centers also give those in need everything from blankets to blood to shelter and beyond.

And knowing when to donate clothes is also important from an environmental standpoint as well. Unfortunately, all types of waste are being generated all too frequently all throughout the United States. This waste all too often ends up landfills throughout this country and on a global scale as well, contributing to our growing environmental crisis. Fortunately, however, there are steps we can take to reduce this waste, even though the average person living in the United States is still throwing away up to ten total pounds of clothing over the course of a single year – and up to 70 pounds of total textiles ranging from clothing to linens and beyond in this same span of time.

But donating this clothing is a great way to reduce your waste in this area of life. After all, just about all of textiles and other such fabrics can simply be donated instead of thrown away. With up to ten and a half million tons of them ending up in landfills on a yearly basis, donating more than 15% of all of our old clothing is necessary – and possible. Even if the clothing or textile in question is quite well worn, it can be repurposed in a number of other ways. Old textiles that can no longer be used for their original purposes can often, for example, be used as factory rags or even transformed into stuffing for couches and other types of furniture as well.

Fortunately, knowing when to donate clothes and making charitable clothing donations is something that more and more people are becoming actively aware of in the world as we know it. And more and more people are looking into the purchase of used clothing over new clothing as well, buying up to ten pounds over the course of just one single year.