Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah joins together with local Utah residents to reduce textile waste and it’s environmental harm through re-use and repurposing used clothing. One of the best ways to make donations in Utah is by giving BBBSU your used clothing clothing.
What most individuals do not realize is that it takes 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton t-shirt and 1,800 gallons for a pair of jeans. Because of fast fashion, individuals in North America are throwing away reusable items at an alarming and increasing rate. In a matter of 365 days, 60 percent of new clothing winds up in a landfill or is incinerated. On an individual level, North American residents throw out on average 81 pounds of textile each year. If more people made donations in Utah in the form of used clothing, it would make a dramatic difference!
These startling numbers alone demonstrate how fashion is one of the world’s largest contributors to pollution; however, that’s why we work with Savers to reduce the effect. Savers recognizes the power of reuse and aims to give items a chance to be used again. What’s so significant about the power of reusing and repurposing items is that each of us can incorporate it into our daily lives. People make a lot of donations in Utah, but we sometimes miss easy opportunities like these only because we don’t know better.
How We Make a Difference
Everyone can help reduce the effect of fashion on the environment by donating used clothing. At Big Brothers Big Sisters of Utah, we make it easy for you to donate! Three ways to donate:
- Find a bin. We have 158 bin locations across Utah. Go to our web site to see a map of the bin closest to you.
- Schedule an at-home collection. We have trucks that will come to your house and pick up donations. Visit our website to schedule your free pick-up today.
- Drop off items at an attended site. Drive up to any of our 5 sites across Utah and an attendant will come to your car and unload your donations.
The beautiful thing about this process is that the items donated to us find a new home and purpose. The revenue we produce with Savers through repurposing this clothing goes back around to support our mentoring programs and ultimately benefits our community. If you are looking to find better ways to make donations in Utah, this is a simple way that leaves a massive impact.
To summarize what kind of impacts our efforts have specifically, here is a list of what repurposing clothing with us does for the environment:
- Keeps out more than 4 million pounds of cloth waste in landfills
- Reduces carbon emissions
- Creates green jobs, businesses, export dollars
- Reduces municipal collection and disposal costs
- Supports and sustains social services, programs and health needs
- Funds research
- Employees dozens of individuals
- Provides volunteer opportunities for thousands of adults
- Changes the lives of thousands of kids
When you decide to make donations in Utah, start by repurposing your clothing with us. You can easily find a donation bin or donation center near you and start donating now. The impact it has not only supports the kids in our programs but also positively affects our environment and community.
