From helping disabled veterans to giving back to your community to providing important items and services to needy families and needy children, giving to charity has many rewards. Because of this, it is incredibly popular all throughout the United States, with about three percent of the cumulative income of residents going directly to charities. This amounts to about seventy percent of the total population giving charitably at least once over the course of a year, with many giving more than once at that.

Of course, many people do not have the funds to even give a little to a charity of their choosing, whether the money would be going to help the environment or towards helping disabled veterans. After all, the world that we live in can be difficult to make it in, and everyday costs begin to add up, especially when combined with student loan payments, housing payments and the like. It can be difficult to find a way to give back without breaking the bank.

Fortunately, helping disabled veterans and other needy populations is very possible to do without even spending a dime. If you don’t have money to give to charitable organizations, the value of charitable donations can also be found in that of the used clothing donation. Used clothing donations are valuable for a number of reasons, as well.

Of course, they can go towards helping people in need from helping disabled veterans to helping poor children to helping families that are struggling in some way to make ends meet. In fact, up to forty five percent of all donated clothes is worn again, secondhand. Some of this clothing is donated directly to needy people, while other used clothes are sold and the proceeds go towards charitable organizations and towards helping disabled veterans and other populations in this way.

Aside from this, donating your used clothing instead of merely throwing it away is hugely beneficial to the environment. As is, only around fifteen percent of all discarded clothing is donated. The rest, unfortunately, is sent to various landfills throughout the country, where it collects in staggering accounts.

In fact, it is even estimated that up to ten and a half million tons of clothing make it to landfills every year, while less than half of that amount (just under five million tons) is donated. Increasing the clothing donations that we make will keep said clothing away from the landfill, putting it to use again out in the world. And it is estimated that nearly one hundred percent of all old textiles are able to be donated, even if they are not in the condition to be worn again as clothing.

In these cases, donated textiles like donated clothing is used in a variety of different ways. Much of these donated textiles are actually cut up and used and factory rages, while other donated textiles are used to make up the stuffing for various pieces of furniture. The ingenious usage of this old and worn out clothing has already made considerable environmental strides not only here in the United States but in many other places around the world as well.

Even though helping disabled veterans and saving the environment is surely a noble cause and something that many people will be more than eager to contribute to, it can be difficult to know when to donate clothes and even when to donate household items. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to know when it is time to do so, no matter what the condition of said items.

For one, it’s important to assess how frequently you wear a piece of clothing. If you wear in a two season climate, for instance, you should be wearing all pieces of your clothing at least once every six months. If it goes longer than that, it is likely that the item of clothing in question is one that is ready to be donated. However, you might want to hang onto some special pieces of clothing that have emotional significance. As long as this collection does not expand too much, there’s certainly nothing wrong with wanting to do so.