Right now, many people are in their homes due to the Coronavirus. Being home more often gives us more time to declutter, so people are Marie Kondoing their homes and getting rid of items that don’t bring them joy. Unfortunately, because most thrift stores are closed right now, their donation centers are also closed. Basically, this means thrift stores are unable to process donations that are left at their store.
Although many thrift stores are closed, there have been several news reports from several different cities showing that the public has been dumping items in thrift store parking lots or outside of donation bins. These items will end up in the landfill since no one can process them. Some of the reasons the items will end up in landfill are items can get caught in the rain & get ruined because they are soaking for days or even weeks. The thrift stores are overwhelmed with donations and do not have room to process the items dropped off irresponsibly, or because they do not have the labor to process the items. Items dumped outside of thrift stores can become a health hazard according to Buffalo News. See photos below (Photo Source: Orange County Register)
Donating items irresponsibly can easily be avoided, which is why my friend Ashley from @get.ethical and I had a #candidconversation about how to donate responsibly during this time. Watch our full conversation here.
Goodwill in Chino, CA. Donations left outside by the public. Goodwill has asked people to stop dumping items outside of their stores. Hold your donations.
Goodwill in Huntington Beach. The public has been dumping donations in their parking lot. These items can’t be processed because the donations centers are closed for safety reasons
Tips for donating responsibly:⠀
1. Hold Your Donations
If you have the space, please wait until thrift stores & donation centers reopen to drop off your donations.
2. Research thrift stores & charities in your area currently accepting donations.
In Vegas, The Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth is accepting clothing and in Los Angeles, many of the Goodwill locations have reopened and are accepting clothing donations. To find donation centers open in your area, do a google search for “[City] accepting [clothing, home decor, furniture, etc] donations coronavirus.”
3. Sell/Donate Your Clothes Online
Companies like Thred Up, Buffalo Exchange, and Poshmark allow you to sell your clothes for money. Also, consider donating your clothes to a company that will recycle the clothes for you like For Days.
4. Wash/sanitize your items before donating⠀
Make sure the items are clean before dropping off your donations. Sanitize the item(s) with an alcohol wipe. If you are donating clothes, be sure to wash them before donating.
5. Contact your donation centers if you have any questions
Call or email your local thrift stores, charities, and/or donation centers to ask them about their intake process. Find out if they need the items you want to donate and find out their procedures regarding COVID-19. Things are different now, so check before donating anything.
Do you have items you need to donate?
Great post! Our local thrift store is still operating thankfully (which is weird because we’re in lockdown) so we’ve been able to donate all the clothes we’ve cleared out since being home so much. Love your blog! xx
mia // https://beautiful-inspiring-creative-life.com
Thank you so much! That’s great that you will be able to donate your clothes during this time.
Ah man, I noticed some donation boxes overfilled with clothes all on the ground. They even removed some of the boxes in my area. I was driving around with these items in totes until some of the thrift stores reopened.
http://www.NancyUgo.com
Happy to hear you are a responsible donator! That is unfortunate that they removed some of the donation boxes from your area.