Something from the video surprised me: that you can take ALL clothing (torn, stained, etc.) to Goodwill, and they will use it all. It might not mean that they'll sell everything, but the products that they don't sell in their stores they will sell to textile recyclers to create rags, rugs, etc. Thinking this too good to be true, I contacted Goodwill Industries Customer Service via email, and I got a lengthy response including this information:
"Our donations to Goodwill are sorted according to a quality standard. Typically, during the sorting process, items with no flaws or defects are sent to traditional Goodwill retail stores for sale. We have over 2300 in the US and Canada. The items that don’t meet the quality standard are sometimes sold at Goodwill clearance centers, such as outlets or "by the pound" stores. Not all Goodwill headquarters have such centers, but where present, this is a good way to squeeze more value from donations, keep more product from reaching landfills, and fund our job training programs and employment placement services. Any remaining product is then offered for sale to textile recyclers, which extends the life of already manufactured goods.
Some of the used clothes sold to textile recyclers are recycled into rags, carpet fibers and other products. This is an environmentally sound process - we have seen estimates that textile recyclers divert approximately 2.5 billion pounds of used clothes from landfills."
What do I recommend? Well, I would first reuse the fabric for any use possible: pillows, clothing updates, etc. If that isn't a need, I would cut the pieces up into rags to make sure that they're reused first then I'd take the remaining bits to Goodwill. Keeps them out of the dumpster, so you have a clean conscious. Double win.
