Our signature color may be blue, but when you shop and donate with Goodwill Central Texas, you’re actually going green!
Most of us don’t think of the environmental impact and sustainability of making new clothes and electronics, but that impact is huge. Then there is the added ecological impact of throwing those items away, filling our landfills with textiles and e-waste that won’t break down for generations to come. When you consider that, it’s easy to see the benefits of donating and shopping at Goodwill.
Making a Positive Impact
The vast majority of your donations to Goodwill are sold or recycled. In 2021, local Goodwills diverted approximately 3.8 billion pounds of usable goods from landfills. That includes clothes, shoes, furniture, and electronics, among other things. More than 15 million pounds of electronics were collected across more than 2,000 Goodwill locations and recycled into new computer parts. That is a huge, positive impact on our community and our world.
A lot of energy, chemicals, and water go into producing new garments, and production has increased because of the “fast fashion” trend. “Fast Fashion” is the practice of delivering many new collections of clothes as fast as possible to take advantage of current trends. These clothes are typically not made with the highest quality, which makes them more likely to be thrown away faster. Americans throw away around 10.5-million tons of clothing a year. When you shop at Goodwill instead of buying new, you are helping reduce the environmental impact of producing that new shirt, pair of jeans, or dress you find in most major department stores.
Reducing E-waste
Clothing is only part of the issue. Around 48-million tons of e-waste is produced every year creating negative impacts on the environment. Keeping e-waste out of landfills has been a focus of Goodwill for many years. As the very first partner in the Dell Reconnect program, Goodwill was one of the original technology recyclers, making the disposal of old technology easy and free. You drop off your unwanted computer equipment with your other donations at any Goodwill donation location, it is then sent to our specially trained team to inspect for refurbishment or recycling.
The computers go through a complete wiping process in compliance with the US Department of Defense standards to destroy data left on hard drives. That means you can donate your unused computer equipment with confidence.
An Easy Way to Live a More Sustainable Life
Many of us are looking for ways to live a more sustainable life and make the planet a better place, but at times those solutions seem difficult and time-consuming in this fast-paced world.
Saving water and increasing space in landfills can seem like unattainable goals. Goodwill Central Texas makes it easy for you to attain those goals while providing education, career training, and job placement services for our neighbors, empowering them to achieve a more sustainable life. That means changing the trajectory for families for generations to come – now that’s something that will change the planet!
