The Do’s and Don’ts of Donating

Need another reason to sort out your wardrobe? They say that you wear 20 percent of your wardrobe 80 per cent of the time, and this is especially true. There really is no better time and reason to purge your surplus than to give to charity shops that are currently  in desperate need of quality stock. But before you indiscriminately dump everything you haven’t worn the past year, op shops are also urging people to think twice about what they donate. Out of the 95 million kilos of clothing donated every year to charity shops, 25 million of that is unusable and has to be sent to landfill, essentially diverting funds raised for welfare programs into waste disposal costs.

So how you decide between what to give, and what to send to the tip? Here are some guidelines that should help:

•       If you wouldn’t give it to a friend, don’t give it to an op shop.

•           Make sure items are clean, and undamaged.

•           When it comes to donating, you can help out charity shops doing activities.

•           If you have matching sets, such as earrings or shoes, make sure they’re fastened together

•           Put your donation in the bin (not outside), or better yet, take it into the store during open hours so you can check your donations will be accepted.

•           If you have something large (like furniture) or fragile, some charity shops will pick up. (Adapted by Jessy Pearl)

Source: www.lifestyle.com.au