Spring Cleaning: Sustainably Refreshing Your Closet
Written by Robin Schleusner
Spring cleaning is a long-practiced tradition of deep cleaning homes, ushering in a fresh start for warmer weather and higher energy levels accompanying it. The deep cleanse can bring about a sense of mental clarity, a much-needed feeling as the end of the spring semester approaches. A closet clean-out is one of the many components that may be included in your spring cleaning this year. It’s important to understand the options available for disposing of unwanted clothes to maintain sustainability.
Deciding what clothes to keep and discard can be challenging. This process requires a decisiveness that is difficult to attain. There are a few key questions you must ask yourself to determine whether the item should stay in your closet or would be better to be resold, donated, or upcycled. These questions may be, “Do I actually like this and see myself wearing it? Have I worn it recently? How is the wear of the item (does it have holes, stains, etc)?”
Another guideline that can be helpful is using Marie Kondo’s (Japanese organizing consultant) KonMari Method™ of minimizing clutter - asking yourself if the item “sparks joy”.
With the items you choose to dispose of, you must understand your options for getting rid of them. Three popular and accessible strategies are reselling, donating, and upcycling.
Selling your unwanted clothes is a good option for pieces that are on-trend, good quality, and lightly worn. An aspect to selling clothes that may be important to some is the potential to make a profit. Online apps are very popular outlets when it comes to selling clothes, such as Depop, Poshmark, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and ThredUp. While some apps like Depop and Poshmark have little regulation about the items you can sell, other apps like ThredUp serve more as an online consignment shop, and regulate the quality of items being sold. Another consideration with these apps is the need to package and ship the items yourself to buyers. There are local consignment shops in the Madison area, where you can check their websites for items they accept and other donation information. Plato’s Closet is another resell option, although this organization tends to be more particular about the items they take based on trends, brands, and quality.
Items that you don’t want to sell but are still free of stains and tears can be donated to a thrift store or donation center. Ensuring that there are no stains or tears on the items makes it more likely that they are purchased. In addition to clothing, any new or gently used shoes and professional attire are commonly welcomed as donations. It’s important to check the donation center’s website to check regulations they may have on items and that you include any information they need with your donation.. There are plenty of thrift stores in Madison and the surrounding area that welcome donations - St Vincent de Paul, Agrace Thrift Stores, Dane County Humane Society Thrift Stores, and Goodwills are just a few.
If clothing items you wish to dispose of do have any damage like stains and holes, you can look into upcycling them. There are many options for upcycling pieces, such as cutting pants into shorts and cutting shirts into reusable rags. You can also look into repairing items with holes or missing buttons yourself by simple sewing. You don’t know how to sew? Don’t worry, as there are easily accessible tutorials on YouTube and TikTok that you can follow and use to practice sewing skills.
Spring cleaning’s impact is much bigger than a personal reset. It can be a deliberate practice to reduce the amount of clothes that contribute to waste. Knowing how to dispose of clothes is just one side of the issue. It’s also important to participate on the other side by buying sustainably through second-hand methods, supporting environmentally friendly brands, and including pieces in your wardrobe that are good quality and can be reworn long-term. Engaging in this process can reduce your impact on the environment and minimize the amount of clothes that end up in landfills.
Edited by Claudia Rothberg
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