Did you think it was harmless to keep all those clothes for years and years in your closet??? Hoarding clothes has real consequences to our daily lives, health and happiness.
Yes it’s true! Whenever I open my closet and I see things that make me feel sad or guilty, I ask myself this:
WHY SHOULD I LET GO OF CLOTHES THAT DON’T SPARK JOY?
1. REDUCE MENTAL LOAD
Yes every time you see something that you haven’t used or worn, you feel a little bit bad each time. Imagine if you had donated those items… now there will be no more reminder everyday about the mistakenly purchased product.
2. REDUCE HEALTH RISKS
The clothes you don’t wear literally gather dust. And then molds and mildew. Imagine all that dust and fungi growing inside your closets and how that affects your breathing and your skin. Especially if you have asthma or skin asthma.
3. REDUCE HOUSEHOLD CHORES.
Less stuff means less to clean. I remember, before I Kon Mari-ed my closet, I always had a few shirts that were stuck in the bottom, and by the time I wanted to wear them they were super dirty and needed to be washed. Then the bottom of the closet needed to be wiped and disinfected.
HOW TO LET GO?
Choose to keep only what sparks joy by doing the #KonMariMethod. Then for the rest fo the clothes left on the pile, silently say
Thank you clothes for
…. teaching me that this style doesn’t suit my taste
…. helping me get to know my body and what isn’t flattering on me
…. teaching me a lesson on thoughtful consumption
…. for giving joy to whomever gets to use these clothes next.
Once you thank the clothes you are letting go ot, it doesn’t seem like such a waste that you didn’t use them.
GENTLE REMINDER:
- Please always wash or sanitize clothese before donating. Those who are in need of donations, don’t have time nor resources to wash clothes. Let’s donate mindfully to give respect to basic human dignity. I love my Samsung Air wash function for this. It’s like dry cleaning without harmful chemicals.
- There are clothes that aren’t fit for donation. Victims of calamity, will have no use for dressier items like gowns, stiletto heels, jewelry, minis, tube tops, etc. For these items, I sell them for half of retail price on Declutter MNL and other FB buy and sell groups.
MY FAVORITE PLACES TO DONATE CLOTHES
My favorite places to donate clothes are Tzu Chi Foundation and H&M Foundation. For me they are the most convenient and you will see why below.
1. Tzu Chi Foundation
Tzu Chi Foundation picks up for free, if it’s A LOT of items to donate. Aside from clothes that are in good usable condition, they also accept the following.
You can bring them to a Tzu Chi Recycling Center. Or you can get in touch with their office to ask them when they can pick up in your area. This is for if you are donating large items like furniture and lots of recyclables like these.
(632) 7141188 • 7142288 • 7141188 • 7142288 • 7320001
2. H&M Foundation
H&M is trying to Close the Loop by receiving items that are either 1) usable for donation to people in need, or 2) any fabric/textile that needs to be recycled, so clothes or towels or beddings with holes, or even underwear, etc.
Drop off clothes and textiles from ANY brand, in ANY condition in ANY of their stores
And the bonus is getting a 15% discount voucher for each bag donated. This is not why I donate to H&M though, but just a small bonus that they give. Read more about what happens to their textile donations here.
These are just two of my favorite places to donate clothes, but there are so many more. Here is a great guide for more places to donate clothes in Metro Manila:
3. UNIQLO stores
For Uniqlo branded items in any condition – usable or not – they also have drop off points in all their shops. Please inform their staff that you are donating something. Their drop off points look like this:
These are just the ones that I use most because of convenience but there are so many other places to donate used (or unused) clothing in Manila that you’ve just decluttered:
10 Places To Donate Clothes In Manila
Good To Know For Manila Declutterers:
Where to Conveniently Donate Used & Recyclable Items in ANY condition
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