What to do with your Old Clothes - Decluttering Sustainably 

My favorite thing before the pandemic was a mending day at our library. We helped each other try and figure out how to fix clothes and enjoyed each other’s company. I really like the look of mended clothes.

I usually donate old clothes that are still in good condition to some distant relatives in Indonesia, and sometimes they pass over the clothes to their neighbours! For old raggedy clothes, my family turns them into rags or mats, haha!

Super video! My problem with keeping things and being crafty is that I always want to keep *everything* because I know it could be used in some project...eventually...at some point... But it's sometimes more effort than it's worth and I just have to face facts that finding other ways to get rid of the clothes (like charity shops or eBay or clothing bins that send to textile recycling plants, etc) are a better way to go instead of always pressuring myself to be super thrifty about everything (which often just results in a lot of half-finished projects sitting around my house for ages..!). I also have to remind myself to use charity shops more for BUYING clothes too. I buy clothes sooo infrequently and, when I do need something new, I usually just pop on eBay for stuff. But it's better for the environment and the charity that the charity shop gives its profits to, if I get off my butt, walk to the charity shop and just have a browse!

Am from Kenya living in Europe....and there is a lot of second hand clothes dumping which has literally cLed collapse of local textile industry( because locals can afford the cheaper clothes, but collapse of textile industry also reduces number of jobs available)...donating isn't always sustainable for all! .... I however don't think land fills is the way forward either and I don't know the right way to rid of old clothes ethically!

Dog beds and cleaning rags are a great idea! I've made reusable shopping bags with old tee shirts too (inspired by Alli Cherry!) xo

I did a little swop party a few days ago and it went really well! So I can totally recommend doing that ^^.

Your hair looks amazing! 😍😍

I'm kicking myself for not thinking about textile recycling! I hesitate to donate things that have small holes, stains, or are just really worn because I know (from working in a clothing donation center) that a lot of things like this get thrown out. I just searched and there's definitely a center in my city, so thank you! Otherwise, I typically donate to homeless shelters or big organizations that do direct service (refugees, homeless, low-income, etc.).There are also a lot of programs that collect specialty items-- suits and dress clothes for interviews, prom dresses, etc. :)

I would love to see a video on the influx of donated clothing. I was so shocked when I saw the true cost and they talked about all the clothing shipped overseas that never gets worn and becomes a burden to those countries.

What great timing for this video!! I've been holding onto a bag of kids clothing that are not in good enough condition to sell or donate. I will now research textile recyclers in my area! Very helpful, thank you!!!

Your video's have been so helpful when cleaning out and curating my wardrobe. I'm not quite there yet, but I have gotten rid of about 75% of the clothes I had a year ago. Can not thank you enough!! also, your eyeliner is super cute today ;)

Awesome video Erin!! It's great to encourage people to NOT throw textiles and old clothes away. I tend to donate a very good portion of the clothing I don't wear anymore (of course in good conditions), sometimes I sell something. But I've been thinking for ages about taking some sewing classes to learn how to mend, update or make alterations myself. Thanks for sharing!!!

Cindy says "I like to make yarn from old t shirts. You can make rugs or pot holders. I make quilts from old blue jeans. I have a favorite thrift store that I like to shop at & also donate to. Anything to keep the clothing Out of the landfill."

You posted this video at the perfect time for me, thank you! I'm pretty much halving my wardrobe right now and am drowning in clothes I don't know what to do with.

I knit a lot I'm thinking of cutting them into thin strips then knitting a bag with it. That way it could be a reusable bag that isn't way worse for the environment than a plastic bag.

I am so pleased to have found your channel! You have answered so many questions i've wanted answered for a long time and I have learnt so much! A big thank you! I donate my clothes to the St Vincent De Paul which is fortunately a good thrift shop just up the road from me (I'm in Sydney, Australia). If a piece of clothing isn't in sellable condition I tear it up for rags and donate it to them as they have a store of rags that tradesmen pick up on a regular basis. They've only said no once in the last few years as they had so many. Looking forward to more of your videos and the live Q & A. Not sure I'll be awake but will try and make it!

Thanks for talking about that topic! I was thinking about what to do with my old and damaged clothing. :)

you should make a clothes about donating clothing and how thrifts stores usually have excess! i read about it in a book once and it really surprised me.

Hey! This video is exactly what I was looking for but it was really hard to find! Idk what tags you are using but I couldn't find it under searches that had to do with "getting rid of clothes sustainably". Anyway, just wanted to let you know, so this video can get to the masses quicker! Thank you for all the info!!

I just saw the Minimalism Documentary and a clip of one of your videos was in it! 😄

So cool your city has textile recycling bins! I recenlty discovered H&M accepts clothes for recycling. I thought Value Village did too, so I had saved up two huge garbage bags full of worn clothes, old socks and underwear (!), and sewing scraps, and I brought them to the drop off place at Value Village. I had the bags labeled as "scraps for recycling", but the lady was hesitant to accept them. She said they have to go through it all anyway and seemed put off. Anyway, she accepted them, but I'll have to call a manager or someone to find out their policy on recycling.

I am never sure of what to do with clothing that is in good condition but that people would be unlikely to buy secondhand e.g. underwear, bikinis, swimsuits. I have found somewhere that takes bras for recycling (charity shops will not take bras unless they are brand new with their tags still on them) but I never know what to do with things like underwear or bikinis that don't fit that well anymore. Are textile recycling bins the best place for things like this?

I’ve heard of unusual places that need donations like animal shelters for old linens or prisons for books or office supplies for schools. I wonder if there is such for clothes....

I just thought it might be worth mentioning, many charity shops (in the UK I don't know about elsewhere) they will sell clothes in poor quality to the rag trade so it might be worth asking a local charity shop if they'll take rags to sell.

Just yesterday I found out that one of the consignment stores in my town donates clothes they can't sell to the local high school, for students from low income families that need sweaters/coats/shoes/etc! So just a reminder to keep your eyes and ears open to some alternative donating habits than what you might be used to!!

thanks for posting this! Your videos are always filled with such good information. And your hair looks great in this video :)

You can give your old clothes to h&m and they will recycle them. You will get a 15% discount for an item of your choice for each plastic bag of clothes you give them.

Your hair just looks AMAZING, so luxious...

thx! :-) interesting topic. I am a recent italian subbie, I always have great difficulties in my country, or at least in my city, with most of the things, from the lack of many consignment stores, and the few I have found are super specific about the era/style etc of things they take, to donations, and so on...everything is way too complicated and I often get stuck with piles for way too long because it's so hard to "get rid of them"- I personally find what helps me a lot to declutter - I am now in a process of my own version of the 30 bags/30days making it way longer - is when I can give the clothes to someone I know and I know they will enjoy it, they need it and so on. Also something about ebay just seems too complicated for me, and I tried other online sites without success, this too takes up so much time!!

I have also seen suggestions on Pinterest of ways to repurpose cloths, such as how to's of old T shirts made into reusable shopping bags. Good time to get creative and think outside of our box ;)

we sell to consignment and donate what they dont want to buy. we do that with household items too.

another great video :) thanks for sharing :) unfortunately i live in Greece where people don't really care about ducluttered clothes and there are not many thrift stores so most of the times i donate them to church or to some people that cannot afford being new clothes in my neighbourhood. i hope you understand what i say excuse my english!!

Swaps for me so far is the worst option. I believe that it works only among friends, or at least people of approximately the same age and same style, other way I would leave mine pile of clothing and go home with no new things, no new contacts or any other positive experience. Not even sure that some one is using my clothing :( When I donate I feel at least that I am doing a good thing. So I would advise doing swapping as the last option

some donation places will take clothes they can't sell and sell them for rags and then use the money raised for their charity. I do believe in trying to wear most clothes until worn thoroughly. They even make yarn out of used fabric, like saris.

I have broad shoulders so I buy clothes in a bigger size however I cut and hem the bottom of them, if i can I use the left over to cut and sow them into makeup remover squares.

I have a pile of clothing that cannot be worn anymore and I want to recycle them instead of throwing them in the garbage. However, a lot of the items were my painting clothes. Even though they are holey and have paint drops on them, do you think they would accept the clothes at H&M or another textile recycling place?

Ok I need some advice on where to recycle old PU Matt and Nat shoes I don’t want to throw them away I don’t have a textile recycling place in my city and it’s way too damage to be worn it’s absolutely unwearable I’m talking peeling and holes so and I don’t want to throw it away is there any recommendations of a recycling place I could ship it to?

value village accepts damaged clothes for textile. the shed sell to carpet makers for under carpet foam

love your t-shirt! :-)

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H&M now accepts old clothes (wearable & unwearable) for re-use or recycling. Do you think they can be trusted on that? :) Lately, I've been giving my old unwearable clothes to H&M, because that's the only place I know that conveniently accepts them. However, I'm not sure about wearable clothes. Do you think Oxfam is a good option? There are some projects around that accept clothes and then send them to Africa etc., but this can be dubious (we're sending our Western electric waste, clothes etc. to Africa using it as a garbage dump).

so it's probably best to just sell 'em online..

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Damn you talk to much