The brilliant new way to downsize clothing

Clothes can be tricky to downsize. There's not a huge second-hand market for them. So much is donated - far more than the charity shops can ever sell to their handful of customers.

What's the best thing to do?

For me it's been an ethical dilemma. Unwanted clothes versus unwanted landfill.

Until now

Now there's a more planet-friendly option. One that comes with rewards.

Drop-off at H&M stores

Fashion store H&M has a zero waste goal for the clothes (and other textiles) that you drop off in their recycle stations. So far they've taken in the equivalent of 89 million T-shirts for their Rewear, Reuse, Recycle process.

Rewear

Clothing that can be reworn is sent overseas for second-hand use.

Reuse

Textiles no longer suitable to wear are converted into products such as cleaning cloths.

Recycle

Textiles that can't be reused are recycled into textile fibres or used to manufacture products such as insulation materials.

Reward

For each bag of used textiles they'll give you a discount voucher. I think 15% off your next item. If you don't need it (or find it too tempting) then pass it on. It's a chance to brighten the day of a random shopper.

What to do

Up the back of the shop, look for a recycle station like this one.

To get your voucher, talk to a staff member first. For more information see H&M Recycle your clothes or their partner Ico-spirit.

PS. If you've are looking to sell some of your really-good-condition clothing online, you may want to grab a free copy of my ebook Less Clutter More Cash for tips on selling online.

Comments

How to waste a year's wages

A friend recently asked me why it is that so many people (on good incomes) are struggling to save. Often the big three money areas are housing, transport and food. In one sense these are necessary items. But what we spend on them is often way more than necessary. I crunched some numbers on how much extra my wife and I could spend on these things - if for some reason we wanted to burn our money. 1. Housing Our apartment is fairly nice, but also cost-effective. I've mentioned how choosing it saves us $1,800 per year , compared to a similar one we saw. The high end of 2-bedroom apartments in our suburb is $305 per week more than our apartment. Not $305 per week. $305 per week more than ours is. I cannot get over that. Sure it's new and modern-looking, but that's a lot of money. It's an extra $15,860 per year above what we pay. 2. Transport The Australian Automobile Association lists the costs of owning and running a car. It includes many often-overlooked c...

Less Clutter More Cash - now available

Do you feel like you have too much stuff? Is your home full of things you never use? Would you like to swap them for cash? We did My wife and I have sold more than 550 items online as we downsize and we've learnt a bit along the way. I've put some of our best tips into this handy ebook. I hope you can use these tips so you too can have less clutter and more cash. Enter your email address below to receive the book for free. Less Clutter More Cash Get my new ebook for free. PS. This will subscribe to the But Wait There's Less email list, so you'll know when the new updated version of the book is available. You can unsubscribe at any time.

You know what to do. Ignore this ad!

Yes, jewellery stores pump out the ads around valentine's day - that's no surprise. After all it's a made-up day designed to sell more stuff at higher prices. But this year they seem extra desperate to sell stuff we don't want, with the "You know what to do" campaign. I reckon the sales team are scared by the number of couples that have realised that love is not in physical merchandise but in quality time. So they've made an ad exactly about these people. The message seems to be aimed straight at guys to say "even if you and your partner agree not to waste money on jewellery, you should buy her some anyway". Apparently in a relationship it's important to ignore what your wife or partner says and do what profit-motivated corporations tell you to do. I tend to disagree. If you're interested have a look - it's interesting to see how transparent it is.

But wait... there's less!

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