5 Reasons to Schedule a Red Cross Clothing Pick Up

Americans are very generous people. It has been estimated that about 70% of people around the United States make donations to charity every year. That amounts to about 3% of income around the nation that is sent to charity. A lot of people want to give back to their community but do not have a lot of money to give or the time to volunteer. For these people, the best thing they can do is donate old clothing to charity. The Red Cross is one of the top charities in the country. To make it easier for people to donate, people can schedule a Red Cross clothing pick up so people do not need to leave home to do some good. Here are some of the benefits to settling up a clothing donation pickup.

1. You help the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reported that the average person in the United States throws at least 10 pounds of clothing away every year. This is bad for a few reasons. In the first place, those clothes cannot help anyone. They are sent to landfills, where they produce dangerous greenhouse gases. When materials that can decompose in an environmentally friendly fashion are left in a landfill, they cannot do this with oxygen. The result is anaerobically. That is the reason they release the greenhouse gases. At the same time, new garments need to be created to replace the ones that were thrown away. No matter how you look at it, scheduling a Red Cross clothing pick up can help you reduce your carbon footprint.
2. You get a cleaner home. Every year, Americans buy almost 20 billion different pieces of clothing. That amounts to about 68 pieces of clothing and seven pairs of footwear used every week. That is a lot of clothing. If you have a family, you may have clothing that your kids have outgrown. These pieces can still be used for another family.
3. You can take that money off your taxes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) views clothing donations the same way it views monetary donations. That means that anything you give when you have a Red Cross clothing donation pick up, can be taken off your tax bill. If your donations equal $250 or more, you will need to provide paperwork to the IRS when you file your taxes.
4. You help the economy. When people think about the good work done by charities, they often think about how people and families in need are helped. What many people do not realize is how much non-profit organizations give back to the economy. Every year, these organizations give a little more than $666 billion. By setting up Red Cross clothing pick ups, you help those important organizations stay in business. Many sell the used clothing donations in their consignment shops, which helps them stay open.
5. You provide a good example to other people. People react to the actions of people around them. There is an old shampoo ad, in which they recommend, “you tell two friends, and they tell two friends and so on and so on.” When you give to charity or schedule a clothing pick up, people will notice what you are doing and may be inspired to do the same. That means your good deed can spread well beyond your own community. Plus you help your karma by giving to others.

Some people say that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to scheduling Red Cross clothing pick ups. You may think that your kids old winter attire or the garments that you no longer love are not going to be wanted by anyone else. When you donate your used items to charity, you give your clothes a new way to help people. You also make it possible for lower-income families to be able to afford the clothing items they need. Even clothing items that can no longer be worn, and towels or blankets, can be used in animal shelters all over the country to keep the dogs and cats warm.