Pretty, isn't it? Like my own personal rainbow in my closet. Well it's making me blue. In my pursuit to live a simpler life I have been slowly ridding our household of unnecessary, unused items. I feel another purge coming on!
Let's face it, I have way more clothes than one human could need. Three closets, in fact. Two for clothes - one for shoes and out of season clothes. Plus, a large nine drawer dresser full.
There was a time when I actually used all of these. Honest! Six years managing a store in the mall, it was a requirement of the job. Tisk, tisk. All that money wrapped up in clothes. Makes me feel foolish now. These days, I would say I wear MAYBE 25% of my current wardrobe. So it has got to go.
But, where?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Reduce
I am not big on garage sales, but I have quite a stockpile of purged items in the garage waiting for a new home, so it is an option. The Salvation Army and Goodwill have been recipients of my previous purges.
Reuse
Most of it is good quality in good shape. However, the few pieces that are past their prime I'm thinking of re-purposing into something new. A reusable shopping bag perhaps? Maybe some dinner napkins? Tablecloth? I am up for any suggestions you may have. What have you turned your old clothes or scrap fabric into? Found an alternative use for them? Let's hear it.
Recycle
RecycleI have done some digging and textile recycling is few and far between. I know old denim can be recycled into a green insulation, but how do we get the denim there? Patagonia will take back some of there used apparel for recycling. But what if you didn't buy it there? Then what?
U'SAgain is a textile recycling company with a few locations throughout the US. Since none of these are near me I have a few other ideas to pursue first.
Freecycle is a free local forum where members list items they would like to part with - for FREE! You can post items you want to give away, plus items you are looking for. Need a new TV? Get one for free! There is probably one in your area. Type your location in the search box and start riding that Freecycle.
Rehash is another free website where you can trade clothing, accessories, and books with others online. You post what you have to get rid of, peruse the other listings, find something you like and offer to swap.
I don't have any friends, so a swap party is out. Or, is it? Hell, maybe I will host an online swap on my blog. Up for grabs one like new blouse size 4, will trade for??? Books? Homemade jam? Sewing pattern? I'm open. Any takers?
U'SAgain is a textile recycling company with a few locations throughout the US. Since none of these are near me I have a few other ideas to pursue first.
Freecycle is a free local forum where members list items they would like to part with - for FREE! You can post items you want to give away, plus items you are looking for. Need a new TV? Get one for free! There is probably one in your area. Type your location in the search box and start riding that Freecycle.
Rehash is another free website where you can trade clothing, accessories, and books with others online. You post what you have to get rid of, peruse the other listings, find something you like and offer to swap.
I don't have any friends, so a swap party is out. Or, is it? Hell, maybe I will host an online swap on my blog. Up for grabs one like new blouse size 4, will trade for??? Books? Homemade jam? Sewing pattern? I'm open. Any takers?
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4 comments:
There's also Craiglist and eBay if you want to make a little cash on them. If not, do you have a women's shelter nearby. They'd probably LOVE to have the clothes.
BTW - good for you for simplifying!!!!
I've never done a swap party but I'm debating organizing one for my city via the city's green task force. glass of wine in hand, it could be quite fun.
Anyway, I was just talking to my neighbor who owns a small boutique locally. She stocks most of her clothes from LA designers and many of it is "eco-chic". She was saying that most of them are now using reclaimed fabrics. I should have delved into that a bit more but it popped into my head when you talked about textile recycling. I'll have to do some digging of my own.
heather - I do ebay, but lately I like the idea to dispose of things locally to keep transportation and all that goes with it down.
Craigslist is a good idea. I have perused it looking for items, but never used it to dispose of them.
I love helping out the women's shelter. Our local shelter New Horizon's has actually teamed up with eBay to be the recipient of 10% of an auction's final sale price.
In collaboration with Sell-it-all-Online and their Charitable partners program, eBay has created a donation program in which 10% of the purchase price of an auction item will go to a designated charity of your choice.
You should see if your local charities know about this. It's a great opportunity for them.
green bean - Man, I wish my city had a green task force!
You could turn the swap party into some type of swank charity event. Sell tickets for a nominal fee, have food and drink, and ask guests to bring unwanted items from home. Vases, dishes, furniture, clothing, whatever. Schmooze, booze and come home with something great basically for free! Use any proceeds from the event to support some green project in the community.
Hmmm...sounds like a good idear for here. Thanks!
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