It is necessary to imagine the path of each garment as it is made, which manpower, which shipments were used, how much CO2 was produced during decluttering. These are new questions that we can ask ourselves in front of our clothes.
In general, I always recommend choosing second-hand shops as a place for our purchases because we find products that have already been made, therefore we do not feed a new production chain, but we offer them a second life.
We usually associate decluttering with two things: throwing away what is no longer needed and donating.
In this blog, I will talk about sustainable mega decluttering, mega because I will try to cover all the rooms in the house, sustainable because I will propose new ideas to be adopted other than donation.
On the Caritas Ambrosiana website, I discovered that the quantity of clothes we removed exceeds the demand of the people that it can be reached. In addition, we read “if we wanted to dispose of the clothes collected in the bins in one place in the last 20 years, we have to build a landfill as large as the San Siro stadium and as high as the Pirellone plus the Unicredit Tower combined. To give an idea in the dioceses of Milan and Brescia where live 6 and a half million citizens 30 million garments are collected a year, many more than people in economic difficulty could wear. “
These statements make me think a lot! The amount of clothes donated exceeds the demand and also generates volume and waste of space. ALL THIS WASTE IS CREATED BY US!
Here are 20 ideas for more sustainable decluttering:
1) Repair and give objects a second life
We learn to recover objects that have only some imperfections and to take care of them do not throw them away.
2) Sell
Selling items that are still in excellent condition is a great way to earn some money and to give a second life to that item, to that object.
3) eBay
eBay uses many shipping processes for Great Britain. Local eBay local allows you to sell locally, so you will not have to worry about shipments.
4) Use the Apps
I use apps to sell what I no longer need, especially Sphock. The platform is easy to use. I will also try Vinted.
5) Exchange
Let’s go back to bartering like part of a neighbourhood community, let’s exchange our items.
6) Books, DVDs, CDs
Let’s take them to schools or bookstores. Think when giving something away of the most suitable place where these objects can be reused and served.
7) Materials of various types
Threads, ribbons, beads, cables, cut-outs from your hobbies. Ask the teachers of the schools if they need these scraps for the children’s chores.
8) Batteries
We do not dispose of batteries in the environment because they are harmful. Always collect and throw them in the special containers that are usually found near pharmacies or in supermarkets.
9) Recycle the gifts
Let’s not throw away that gift that we don’t like give it to those who might appreciate it or need it.
10) The North Face
With The North Face “Clothes the Loop” program, garments no longer used can be picked up at the shops.
11) H&M
I don’t buy Fast Fashion garments however; I think we all have an H&M accessories or cloth made by them so I found this info for you!
With the Garment Collection project, you can go on their website and find the complete list of stores that adhere to the program where you can leave the garments you no longer want, they will take care of recycling the fabrics.
12) Nike
The path that Nike has chosen is called Move to Zero. The mission is to eliminate CO2 emissions and waste. The garments with the “sustainable materials” label are made from recycled materials. The label is equivalent to 20×100.
13) Underwear
If we think of underwear, we immediately think of Intimissimi. This brand is also moving towards a sustainable path bringing unwanted underwear of any brand to their stores in exchange for a shopping voucher to be spent at Intimissimi stores.
14) Zara
Zara supplies containers in stores where clothes, shoes and accessories can be left. It also offers an online service to dispose of these objects, to access just register on the site.
15) Glasses
The Italian Lions Center is the centre where all the glasses that are no longer used are collected and will be delivered to those who need them and cannot afford them.
16) Towels and sheets
It is easy to give a second life to the sheets cutting them into small pieces and make dishcloths to clean the house. But another option to consider is to donate sheets and towels to animal shelters, where these items can be used for animals that have experienced trauma.
17) Make-up
It is common to throw used makeup directly into the garbage, but small gestures can make a zero-impact garbage collection. Throw the brush handles into the plastic, the blush or eye shadow powders in the general waste bin. We don’t throw used makeup in the sink.
18) Apple
We can take Apple devices that we no longer need to their stores in exchange for a Voucher. It is very positive to do this because your data will remain protected by Apple’s privacy guarantee and will not be dispersed. In general, all the other technology we want to get rid of must be collected at the appropriate ecological islands.
19) ACP Humanitarian Aid
It is a website to which you can donate goods or services that will go to all those people who need them and make monetary donations.
20) Ecological Islands
If the companies from which you bought your bed or sofa, for example, do not offer the disposal service, consider taking your items to the ecological islands. In this way, you optimise times and results, eliminate waste and respect the environment.
Do you not also believe that these are little gesture we all can do to improve our planet?
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