[ECO]Shuffle Your Style Sustainably With These 10 Tips for Downsizing and Donating

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Shuffle Your Style Sustainably With These 10 Tips for Downsizing and Donating

Maybe your closet feels stale, or you’ve been intrigued by closet decluttering videos. It’s time to define your personal style while doing it sustainably. The fashion industry is famously wasteful, but that doesn’t mean you have to be when deciding what to keep. 

Here are some things to keep in mind as you downsize and donate clothes.

1. Create a Goal-Based Plan

Staring at your closet and accessories can be overwhelming. If you don’t know where to start, begin the process with some reflection. Set intentions and guiding questions to help you navigate the parts of this process with the highest resistance.

Are you decluttering because you want to make space for someone moving in? Do you have too many clothes that don’t fit you properly? Everyone’s motivation is different, but repeat it to yourself as you go through your clothes to remind yourself why you started this project. You can also make a list of yes or no questions to make deciding what to keep easier, such as:

• Do I like this ******?
• Am I keeping this out of guilt?
• Does this fit with my aesthetic?
• Do I like the fabric?

Guiding questions could also include metrics like donating anything you haven’t worn in six months or articles with a specific pattern.

2. Organize a Clothing Swap

Mindful downsizing could leave you wanting more. Suddenly, tons of gaps are open in your wardrobe. Donate and rehome clothes with the planet in mind by organizing a clothing swap to help yourself and your friends.

It’s likely your friends are going through similar journeys in their closets. Save money while making someone’s day by sending gently used items to a new life. Choose friends and family with similar sizing and style preferences to increase the party’s chance of success.

3. Repurpose Old Clothes

If the stack of clothes you want to throw away is tall, resist the urge to send them to a landfill. A more productive way to downsize and donate these clothes

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into something new. If you have a knack for DIY, there are countless possibilities to unlock here. Pounds of fabric are waiting to transform into new items to place around the house or gift to others, including:

• Dish or kitchen cloths and towels
• Throw pillows
• Plushies
• Scarves
• **** blankets

4. Look Locally

The decluttering revolution left many places drowning in donations and throwing a lot away. Around

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ends up in a landfill eventually, so choosing a responsible, well-regarded charity is the way to go. To increase the chance your clothes receive more wear, look closer to home.

Nonprofit organizations such as women’s shelters, rehab centers and schools often take donations. They are likely to be clear about what they are and aren’t accepting. Donating to one of these places instead of a store eliminates cost barriers associated with owning clothes, and you see the immediate impacts in your community.

5. Recycle Textiles

Decluttering usually means donating, selling or throwing away stuff. What about recycling? You know upcycling is an option, but some community recycling centers and drop-off locations also accept textiles. Look to see if you have anything available nearby. 

You can also check out websites and services like Terracycle that will ship you a container to fill with clothes. Send it back to them, and they will handle hard-to-recycle items for you.

6. Do a Minimalist Challenge

Fashion and minimalism challenges abound on the internet. If you have trouble motivating yourself to complete this task, gamify it with one of these strategies:

• Project 333: Also known as the capsule wardrobe challenge, this set-up allows only 33 items per season.
• KonMari: This mindful, gratitude-based decluttering method is based on the book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo.
• The Minimalist Game: Play an incremental downsizing game where you get rid of one object on the first day, two on the second, and so on for 30 days.

7. Limit Hangers

Keeping the number of items in the closet to a reasonable number is more straightforward if you only have a certain number of hangers. Once you run out of them, you can’t add anything new unless you first remove something else. 

Another creative way to downsize and identify what to sell or donate is by flipping hangers to sit in the opposite direction after you’ve worn something. This gives you a clear picture of what you wear versus what you think you wear. Items that don’t flip within a set ******* should be next to rehome.

8. Shop Differently

You don’t want to undergo this exhausting decluttering process more than a few times in your life. Limiting clutter requires changing your habits, including how often you shop. Avoid shopping as a way to fill time, and choose other activities. Source looks from what you have, or consider borrowing from a friend to scratch the new clothing *****.

9. Rent and Mend

Additionally, many people feel they need new clothes for special occasions, like weddings, or if an item needs repairs. Instead of doing either,

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and mending articles. This will prevent accumulation and the need for further donations. Even though you’re learning the skills now on how to mindfully and ethically minimize and donate, it isn’t a sustainable habit to do it multiple times a year.

10. Change Your Relationship With Clothes

If you alter how you care for and view your clothes, the way you navigate decluttering will change. First, washing in harsh cleaners and scalding waters degrades clothes more quickly. Use gentle liquids and cooler temperatures to preserve things for longer. 

You’ll likely take better

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if you love what’s in it. If your style changes frequently or you follow trends, overcome the urges by practicing gratitude for what you have. When you consider each piece a favorite, you’ll throw away and donate less while keeping a minimal closet.

This brings you to the final step of downsizing. After culling shoes you hate and clothes that no longer fit, you have the best clothes that represent your current personal style. You may not have realized it, but you have successfully shuffled your style into something refreshing and more representative of you.

Love Your Look

Your closet likely got packed before you even realized it. Downsize to make it curated, high-quality and sustainable. You’ll find each item brings a smile to your face, and it’s more blissful to construct an outfit of the day. In the process, you will have donated and repurposed countless pounds of fabric, giving them new homes and utility. The more responsible people are about minimizing their wardrobes, the better the planet will be.

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