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Giving clothes and furniture is a great way of helping out the community. Whether it is your personal clothes or furniture or items from your workplace, these donations can make a great difference to an individual or organisation.

Clothing donations should be clean, undamaged, and reasonably wrinkle-free. Clothing can be folded and packed in sturdy boxes or bags; avoid hangers. Items that come in pairs (shoes, gloves, socks) should be kept together (shoe laces can be tied together, gloves and socks can be stuffed inside each other). Pockets should be emptied and any belts should be securely fastened to their appropriate items.

Depending on size, logistics and location, each charity has developed its own system for dealing with donated clothing. People who are keen to donate clothes to charity should call the charity and ask advice and/or for locations of drop off centres. In some cases they can go straight to the shop. Some charities will pick up furniture.  Overall, clothes are carefully evaluated and sorted for quality and marketability.

Recycling is a practice through which everyone can make a difference.  Charity bins sites are often used as a dumping site for rubbish and soiled items. The cost of collection and disposal of material is a serious financial burden to the charitable institutions, effectively diverting funds from welfare programs into waste disposal costs. The members of NACRO advocate for responsible donating. Your donation can make a big difference in the lives of children and adults in need.

Worn / Damaged / Unsaleable Clothing

Worn/damaged/un-saleable clothing can still be recycled by some charities. Certain items of clothing (preferably those made from natural fibres) can be used as industrial rags. The suitable criteria are:

• Clean – no dirt, oil, grease, paint or blood
  
• Absorbent materials only – no denim
• Suitable size: minimum cut size for rags is 400mm square… babies clothing can be too small 
  
  Preferable items include t-shirts, towels, flannelette shirts/pyjamas, sheets – especially white materials.

If your items do not meet the above mentioned criteria, please do not put them in charity bins, as they will be landfilled by the charity and incur costs to the charity.

Current NACRO Members