It’s finally full blown spring in Seattle! I’m so happy that
our 6 months of fall and winter has finally ended. I’m also excited to
transition my wardrobe to spring. As I add new pieces like off the shoulder
tops and dresses, I also look to clothes get rid of clothes that I haven’t worn in a
year. Being a fashion blogger means I have a LOT of clothes. It also means I
probably have a lot of clothes that I don’t need any more.

This past weekend I cleaned out my closet. I literally have
two large bags of clothes that I don’t need any more. And after my little
sister takes her picks of my clothes, I’m going to donate the rest of items at my local Value Village.

Confession:

I’m a frequent shopper at Value Village. I shop for both office/work place attire and everyday clothes. I’ve found some of my favorite pants or blouses in second hand stores.

With the exception of my shoes and watch, this entire office look is from Value Village. These pants are originally from Express, the white button down is Talbots, and I’m not sure what the purse brand is, but it’s such a statement!



Here are 6 Reasons
Why Donating Your Clothing at Your Local Value Village Benefits Your Community
& Environment:

1.   Did you know that the
fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world? (the
most polluting industry is oil). The industry needs a lot of water to produce
the 150 billion plus articles of clothing a year. The coal we use to support
the apparel industry contributes 10% of global carbon emissions. Can you believe 26 Billion pounds of clothing also end up in landfills each year
?

 Additionally,
we dump resins, dyes, and other toxins into developing economies Bangladesh,
Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines. In fact, these developing economies are
supporting 60% of the textile production for the fashion industry. 

2.   Did you know it takes
2700 liters or 713 gallons of water to make one t-shirt? According to National
Geographic’s video, that’s enough for one person to drink water for 900
days. Since we only have access to one percent of the world’s fresh water, how
we decide to allocate our resources and the choices we make matter. Almost 1
billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water. We may not be able to
change their situations, but we can still
make a difference by donating unwanted clothing and choosing to shop second
hand.

 3.   Did you know that 54%
of Northern Americans threw away unwanted clothing or household goods in
2016?
Americans throw away 81lbs. of textile each year. Those who threw away rather
than donating, 62% didn’t believe a donation center would accept them and 19%
did not know what to do with them. 

4.   Did you
know that 55% of Seattleites threw away unwanted used clothing or household
goods in 2016?
Of those who threw away used goods, 66% of respondents didn’t think any
donation center would take it and 24% thought it was more convenient to throw
it away.

5.  Did you
know that donating your unwanted clothing or household goods in a form of recycling? By
choosing to donate your items, you keep them out of landfills and give others a
chance to reuse them. Value Village has helped keep 650+ million pounds of used
goods away from landfills each year.

6.   Did you
know that donating to Value Village also helps the Big Brothers Big Sisters of
Puget Sound and the Northwest Center? Value Village has partnerships with non profits where Value Village pays the nonprofits for the goods they are able to collect and put on the sales floor. 


Donating and shopping secondhand at Value Village can make a
difference in both our community and environment. You can use their Nonprofit Locator Tool to
find a community donation center to drop off your items! You can also learn more about perceptions around clothing consumption with the State of Reuse and how your donations help.

Thank you for reading!

*This made was made in collaboration with Value Village and all opinions are my own.
Photography: Holly Phan

Love,
Emma