Sustainable Ways to Declutter Your Closet
Is your closet the one place in your house that always seems cluttered? With trends changing constantly and the mass production in the fashion industry, it can be easy to overbuy clothes. We’ve all found ourselves tempted by fast fashion at some point, and overflowing closets are a common outcome.
It’s a vicious cycle, really. You clean and organize your closet only to revisit it next season just to start the process all over again. It’s time to declutter, but be mindful as you go through the process. Don’t just make the problem worse by throwing everything into the dumpster. Here are a few eco-friendly ways to declutter your closet.
Blank Canvas
The first step is to take everything out of your closet so you can get a better sense of how much space you have. Completely empty your entire closet from top to bottom. Even if you know you will keep certain items, you’ll want to remove them temporarily so you can clean and reorganize as needed. Once your closet is completely emptied, you will have a fresh, blank canvas to work with as you decide which items you’ll keep.
Separate
Be mindful as you take items out of your closet. Come up with a system of organization that you can revisit and refine later on in your process. For example, all of your clothes on hangers can go in a neat pile on your bed. Your shoes can be put into a laundry basket. Separate things into bundles that you can sort through later on.
Clean
It’s hard to vacuum when your carpet is barely visible. Take this opportunity to clean your closet. Vacuum or sweep and mop the floor. Dust all of your shelves and decor. Use some eco-friendly cleaners or essential oils to freshen up your closet’s interior. Now you have a fresh and clean spot to fill with your favorite items.
Assess
Now that you have a clean canvas for your closet space, assess the situation. Look at the items that came out of the area. Is it too much to place neatly back in there? Would you have to cram things in? Do you have appropriate shelving or storage options within the space? What would you need to add or take out to make it look like you want?
Gather
Gather the items you require to organize your closet before putting your stuff back there. Is there a cool way you want to incorporate hanging your clothes back up, like using shower hooks to hang up your jeans? Grab those too if you're going to place some LED lights to add ambiance or become more eco-friendly.
In short, get whatever you need to finish the task and come back ready to tackle your project.
Storage Solutions
If you find that you need new shelving or storage options, consider building or creating with some items you already have. Buying all new items is often an unnecessary waste of money and cause of further pollution.
Instead, you could repurpose old shoe boxes by turning them into storage bins. You could get crafty and decorate them with wrapping paper or stickers or whatever your heart desires. The same can be done with cardboard boxes from online orders. For smaller items, like scarves, socks or belts, check your kitchen. Empty jars or containers can make great storage for small accessories.
Using such items for storage is more eco-friendly and saves you time and money by not having to purchase something new.
Sort Your Stuff
Now that you’ve made room for storage, you can begin to go through those piles you created when you started. To efficiently sort your stuff, you must have a system in place. Make specific piles with separate purposes so you don’t just end up making more piles all willy-nilly and end up with more of a mess than you started with.
Make some labels for your piles and use boxes if you need to keep track that way. Make a donation pile, a maybe pile, and a pile you’d like to sell.
Try to avoid throwing things out. When you discard clothing into the trash, it ends up in the landfill. There were 11.3 million tons of textiles (anything made out of fabric) taken to the landfill in 2018. Some materials, like nylon, don’t break down quickly, meaning those clothes will sit there for a long time. Let’s do better for our environment.
Waste Not
There are plenty of ways to discard our used items that don’t involve creating waste. Options exist that can breathe new life into our stuff rather than adding to environmental hazards by throwing them into the trash.
Donate
Donated items are sometimes broken down into fibers that can be reused to make new clothing items. Once donated, roughly 45% of items are worn again at some point. If your donations don’t resell, they are often donated to shelters or sent overseas for people who need them.
Sell
Higher-priced items that you no longer need might be worth selling. Your old jewelry could have fallen into your “maybe” pile, for example. If you’re unsure about it, take it to get appraised.
A good rule of thumb to follow is to also pay attention to when items will sell best in terms of season. Jewelry sells great all year long, but winter coats will not. You’ll want to sell your items before the season for which it's intended fully arrives. People like to plan ahead, so your expensive swimsuit cover-up should go on the market in springtime, not summer. Separate your items to sell into a timeline to know when you’ll gain the biggest return on investment.
You can try selling clothes yourself through platforms like Facebook Marketplace, or you can find consignment shops that will buy your items from you. If you have vintage or designer pieces, consignment shops are a great way to get the most value from those items.
While donating clothes is a great way to give back to the community, it doesn’t always guarantee the items will be purchased. For special items, like formal dresses or designer handbags, selling might give those items a better chance of finding a new home.
Repurpose
Watch some tutorials on how to turn your old clothing into something new and fresh that you will be more likely to wear. Take a men’s t-shirt that is no longer wanted and turn it into a cute women’s top by cutting the sleeves and the bottom shorter.
Safely stain some old flannel shirts with bleach if that’s your style. Turn some old jeans into cutoff shorts. If you can think of something that would make you wear the item of clothing again, do it yourself. Turn it into a fun project.
Use your older clothing items as cleaning rags if they are past their prime. If they need repairs, find someone who can fix them. Little holes in clothes are such easy fixes. Get a patch from the store and iron it on there if you don’t know how to sew. If your clothing needs a more extensive fix or you just want it done professionally, hire a tailor.
Trade
Trading your clothes is a great way for everyone involved to save money and get cool stuff. Get some friends together and come up with a clothes swap. What you might not love or wear anymore might get the attention it deserves from a close friend or family member.
Take your “maybe” pile, too. You might be surprised what you can barter with to get that top you’ve always coveted from your best friend.
Declutter and Help the Environment
Anyone can end up with a cluttered closet. Over time, you will naturally need to buy more clothes as you age, grow and change. When it does come time to declutter be sure to consider donating, selling or repurposing before tossing anything in the trash.
And while you go through the process, keep the experience in mind next time you think about going shopping. If you just donated last year’s trendy clothes without getting much wear out of them, do you really want to spend money on this year’s latest trend? The best way to have an eco-friendly closet is to buy only what you need.
