Most of us wouldn鈥檛 think twice about recycling unusable items. Ushering that defunct computer or broken toaster toward a business that can break it down for resalable parts has become a routine step in many communities, especially those with curbside pickup. But how many of us make the same effort when it comes to donating old but perfectly good clothes, textiles and household products to charities and thrift stores?
More than half of us do, says the global thrift retailer Savers. According to a survey it conducted for its 2016 State of Reuse Report, 59 percent of North Americans take the time to donate their reusable items to thrift stores or charities 鈥� and many do so to make sure their much-loved belongings go to good use.
Savers, also known in Canada and parts of the U.S. as Value Village, conducted the online survey in April of this year. A total of 3,094 respondents (1,634 in the U.S. and 1,463 in Canada) weighed-in on how and why they donate their reusable household and personal goods.
One of the aims of the survey, said Ken Alterman, president and CEO of Savers, was to determine North Americans鈥� perceptions about their own clothing 鈥渇ootprints鈥� and the role that thrift stores and charities play when people decide it鈥檚 time to part with belongings. Did they bring those items to organizations that could repurpose their unwanted clothing and household goods, or did they throw them away? If they tossed them out, were there reasons why?
Not surprisingly, the survey found that many people feel they have too much stuff sitting in closets and rooms. 聽But their perception of just how much of those goods they take to the landfill revealed an interesting fact about North American habits: We vastly underestimate how much clothing we throw out each year and often aren鈥檛 aware of how much we own 鈥� and how much impact our habits can have on the environment.
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