If you couldn’t tell from some previous posts I’ve made, I am trying to be a more conscious consumer. Since 2020, I have made it a personal mission to be more sustainable in my shopping. It was during the pandemic that I really fell in love with shopping on Poshmark and thredUP, to the point where I am now a thredUP ambassador! I have the apps for both of those and spend so much of my time looking up brands and hunting for particular items I want. So on one hand, I am trying to be more ethical and conscious of what I consume and purchase. On the other hand, I am trying to declutter my apartment and closet. I definitely would not consider myself a minimalist (even though my personal style leans that way), so I have been trying to get rid of clothes in my closet that I no longer want. It is an on-going process. I’ve recently researched more about textile waste and want to try to limit my own impact. Did you know that in America, an estimated 11.3 million tons of textile waste – equivalent to 85% of all textiles – end up in landfills every year? That’s equivalent to 81.5 pounds (37 kilograms) per person per year.
So if you’re like me and want to both declutter your closet but also be kind to Mother Earth, here are 10 things you can do with clothes you no longer want.
How you know it is time to part with something:
- It no longer fits. I am no longer the same size I was before the pandemic and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. However, keeping clothes that no longer fit me in my closet, with the hope that one day I will fit into them again, is not good for my closet space or mental health. Buying new clothes that actually fit and flatter my body is the best thing I can do for myself right now. Sadly that means I have had to part with a lot of clothes lately, but there are so many better items out there that will suit me better now, as I am.
- You no longer have a need for it. Now that I don’t go into the office anymore, I no longer have a need for most of my business casual and business professional clothing. I will keep some staple pieces that still fit for interviews and conferences, but I definitely don’t need 10+ pieces. The same goes for your sorority tees ladies! You don’t need to keep more than one! Seriously!
- It is no longer your style. As you get older, your personal style should evolve. If you still have items in your closet that your high school or college self wore, and you haven’t picked up in over a year, it is time to say goodbye.
- It was just a trend, MOM! Trends are like phases. They come and they go. And while a lot of trends tend to come back in roughly 20 years, that Charlotte Russe cut out tank you wore during junior year St. Patrick’s Day bar crawl is probably not going to make the cut. There is a difference between a quality item of clothing that can stand the test of time, and a cheap, trendy item that is outdated (I’m looking at you, Amazon clothing bought during the pandemic).
- It has some ugly wear-and-tear. Clothing is meant to be worn. But that is also a guarantee that your clothes are going to develop stains, holes, rips and pilling. I personally don’t think its great to be walking around in clothes that have stains and weird holes in them, but that does not mean you should just throw it away. I have other options for you below. But let’s be real: pit stains are gross and noticeable. Don’t do that to yourself.
- You have not worn this item in a year. I need to be better about this because I often tell myself that maybe one day I will return to an item and wear it again. But truthfully, if you have gone through all 4 seasons and have not picked up an item once, it is time to part ways. One of my favorite creators @kyliekatich, says she has been turning her hangers around in her closet when she wears something, so she can actually see what is not getting some wear. What a great idea!
I think you should be going through your clothes every season. Be honest with yourself about what you will and won’t wear anymore. Once you’ve made the (maybe difficult) decision that you don’t want something anymore, you need to figure out what to do with it.
What To Do With Clothes You No Longer Want:
- Mend Your Clothes: Now while I encourage everyone to remove items in their closet that do not spark joy (shoutout to Marie Kondo), I do not just want to sit here and say you should throw away and replace an article of clothing just because it has a small hole or pit stains. In the name of producing less waste, I think you should give it the ol’ college try and try to fix and mend your clothes to make them wearable. Consider dying a tank top that has stains! You don’t need to be a sewing extraordinaire to mend your clothing. There are a ton of Youtube tutorials available, or you can even take it to a tailor. One time, I tore a huge hole in my Lululemon leggings and took it to my local store to mend, totally free! If you do all of this and you still don’t want this particular item, then please refer to the rest of the list below for more options!
- Up-cycle and Restyle Your Clothes: If you’re looking at an item of clothing and you’re thinking to yourself “Hmm I would not wear this now”, I need your next thought to be “What can I do to change it so I will”. One of my favorite TikTokers, @alexandracolleen, has a 100+ part series of her cleaning out her closet until she loves everything. Within this series, she has set aside a pile of t-shirts she loves but feels they would fit her body better if they were cropped. When it doubt, crop it out! Again, you don’t need a fancy sewing machine to redesign your entire closet, but there are small changes you can do that make a world of difference so you would actually keep wearing it. Things like cropping something, dying something a different color (do you remember all of those girlies who dyed their old Vera Bradley weekender bags black during the pandemic?) or sewing/gluing on something bold can make an old item feel new. In 2020 I added ostrich feathers to this tube top and heels with my hot glue gun!
- Swap Them With a Friend: I am so thankful for the friends in my life who are the same size in clothing as me. In college, Allison and I would borrow each other’s clothing all the time. I’m convinced that is why SU housing put us in the same building. These days, Melissa and I are constantly mailing each other packages of our own clothing to each other for special occasions or just to spice up our wardrobe for a month or so. You don’t have to be the same size, but sometimes it helps! These swaps can be temporary or permanent, but I love a “old to you, new to me” mentality.
- Sell Them on Poshmark/Mercari/Depop/eBay: If you are hoping to make some money back on the clothes you no longer want, I recommend selling them on a resale website where you photograph and ship the item yourself. I personally use Poshmark, so I am going to talk about that brand. It tends to be a labor of love to set up an account, photograph your clothing at all angles, describe (and even measure) the items in great detail and then print your own shipping label and have to ship it out yourself. However, Poshmark only takes 10% your earnings and you can set your own prices. I’ve sold over 100+ items in the last 3 years. Doing this makes me feel better about the money I previously spent on my clothes and it’s great to know someone actively wants to wear something that no longer serves my closet.
- Send Them Away to ThredUp: If you’re looking to just get rid of a giant bag of clothing that is taking up space in your trunk, I recommend shipping it off to thredUP. Now you won’t get as much money for each item as you would selling it on another site, but if you do not want to put in the effort of photographing, describing, posting, promoting, and then shipping off your clothes, then this is the best option for you. Especially if you shop on thredUP already! A few bucks here and there from the clothes you no longer want can go a long way! Not to mention, thredUP will donate whatever clothes they can’t sell, or give you the option to get them back. Right now their clean-out bags are on hold, but you can go through J.Crew or Abercrombie to get a shipping label or a bag.
- Donate to a Secondhand Store: Obviously you can go to your local Goodwill, Salvation Army or thrift store to donate your clothes. ThredUP also does a donation kit. The purpose of this donation being that these clothes will either be sold secondhand, or disgarded by the store. This could mean the clothing is thrown away or recycled (see below). My advice is to make sure you are only giving them good stuff. No pit stained shirts or pants with tears.
- Donate to a Charity: The same goes for donating to an organization close to your heart. You only want to give them items people will actually wear, so don’t include torn or stained clothing. This will help limit what clothes can’t be worn and are thrown away. You can go for the classics like The Red Cross and PlanetAid, or look up what is needed at local homeless shelters or religious institutions. You could also donate to organizations like Sole4Soul, One Warm Coat, Free the Girls, and DressforSuccess that ask for specific items.
- Send Back to the Company You Got Them To Be Recycled: This is obviously not the same as a return! This is for worn down clothing you don’t have the receipt for, but also can’t be resold or donated. For example, in 2021 I tore a giant hole in my favorite pair of Abercrombie jeans. I mailed them back to Abercrombie and got some store credit to put towards new jeans! Other stores that do something similar are Anthropologie, American Eagle, H&M, Madewell, Reformation and Patagonia. You may not get money back, but this is a great option instead of just throwing something away.
- Mail it to a Place that will Recycle it: Blue Jeans Go Green recycles and repurposes old jeans for insulation. I have been researching the brand ForDays. According to their website, they will either resell or recycle 95% of what is sent to them. I also just discovered RetoldRecycling. It looks like you have to pay for a bag, but you can consider that a donation to ensure your unwanted textiles don’t end up in a landfill.
- Repurpose the Material: My mother taught me that old flannel shirts make great dust rags. When I was in college, I turned all of my old theatre t-shirts from high school into a t-shirt quilt that I still use today. I’ve seen friends frame old t-shirts that are now too small for them as wall art. All of this to say, there are a ton of ways to repurpose your clothing to limit your waste. You should check out some DIY projects on Pinterest to stretch out your creative muscles.
For my DC friends and fellow Baltimore friends, I recommend checking out what local sustainability initiatives are available near you. Remember, 84% of our clothing ends up in landfills and incinerators, according to the EPA. So anything you can do to try to stop your clothes just ending up in the trash is a good thing. Happy decluttering!
If I left out any other ideas you have for what to do with clothes you don’t want, comment below!
Thanks for reading! xx