Programs
Where to Recycle Winter Wear
The new year has arrived, and as you start to unpack all the accumulated gifts from their boxes and piles in a post-Holiday haze, take stock of new coats and scarves and hats and mittens and other wintry textiles you’ve received recently. As you unload the new, or the new to you, remember to clean out the old, the ill-fitting, the broken, the hole-y, and start a pile for the donation bin, or the resale store, but definitely not the trash can.
Here at Chicago Textile Recycling, we accept:
-coats
-jackets
-scarves
-hats
-mittens
The one wintry item we don’t accept is winter boots, but with all of these cold weather items, we encourage you to donate the gently used ones to local charities and organizations that help members of your community. And although we do accept these items, a large percentage of the items we receive are sent to individuals in warm-weather, developing countries so there is not a large need for these items. Because of this, we encourage you to first donate to those in need in our local communities and city that could reuse winter items to help keep themselves warm this winter.
“The Center for the Disease Control and Prevention reported that from 1999 to 2011, a total of 16,911 deaths in the United States, an average of 1,301 per year, were associated with exposure to excessive, natural cold.”
Why Donate? – Winter is a Time of Need
Many families and individuals in our country struggle year round with bills, rent, and many other needs. Winter compounds all of these by adding the physical need to stay warm, including clothing and heat for your home. Those who sleep outside in the cold have an even harder time as they “face the risk of dehydration, frostbite, and/or hypothermia.” When pulling together donations of winter-related items, whatever they may be, please take the time to reach out to those who could really use these items, such as coat drives and other places described below.
Another population in great need during winter is children.
“41% of all [American] children are living in low-income households.”
The struggle is more ongoing with children because they outgrow boots and coats and jackets so quickly. Children are constantly in need of larger sizes in coats, jackets, mittens and boots. With winter already presenting a strain on low-income families to simply keep the heat on, an easy way to help those families in need would be providing new and gently used coats and other cold weather items.
So the question is, “How can I help?” Here are a few local places you can send your winter item donations:
Where to Donate – Coat Drives and Resale Stores
Both resale stores and coat drives are great options for donating winter items. Although many coat drives are run during the final weeks of Autumn, some have longer periods of collection and would love to have your donations in the new year.
Coat Drives
Salvation Army Chicago Bears Coat Drive is running from November 11th to February 28th. Partnered by Jewel-Osco, Salvation Army, and the Chicago Bears, this coat drive accepts new and gently used coats in Chicago and its suburbs to give to those in need this Winter. You can drop off donations at any Jewel-Osco location in the Chicagoland area. Read here for more information.
Button & Zipper is another local charity that disperses new and gently used coats to local Chicago homeless adults and at-risk youth. There are numerous collection sites at different companies in the Chicagoland area and their collection runs until February 28th also. Read here for more information.
Other places you can donate wintry items such as coats, scarves, hats, mittens, and boots are local homeless shelters or women’s shelters.
Host Your Own Coat Drive
Know of an area in need of coats and other winter items and feeling inspired to make a difference in your own community? You can partner with One Warm Coat, a national non-profit in setting up your own Winter Clothing Drive. Simply choose a local nonprofit in need to donate the items you collect. Read more about the process here. One Warm Coat provides free tools and resources to advertise your winter clothing drive.
Resale Stores
Resale stores are another great option for donating the winter items you no longer need or use. Local resale stores that serve your local community are especially important to choose as donations then go back into serving members of your own community either through work with local nonprofits and charities or at least providing affordable clothing to community members. Many of our partner stores are great options for this very reason, so feel free to contact us for information about stores we work with that serve their communities.
Where to Donate…Winter Boots
Although Chicago Textile Recycling bins are unable to accept winter boots, most resale stores will take them and resell them in store. You can drop them off with other winter items and textiles, which will provide low income families with an inexpensive way to shop for the wintry season.
Care for Real is a Chicago-based organization that serves low income families and persons in Chicago. They are always accepting donations of food, clothing, and personal care items. Winter coats, hats, scarves, shoes and boots were all listed under items in need for the clients they serve. Read more here.
And lastly, another great option is to donate shoes and boots to Share Your Soles, a local nonprofit that accepts new and gently used shoes and boots to give to those in need. They have numerous locations in the Chicagoland area accepting donations. Their goal is to provide shoes to those in greatest need of them around the world. These shoes are given away to recipients who may have never owned a pair of shoes. You can read more of the story behind the organization here.
Spread Warmth this Winter
Regardless of which of these great places you choose to share your winter wear, always remember to donate textiles you no longer wear and do not throw them away. We can share some winter warmth with our fellow neighbors in this small, simple way and keep the spirit of giving on into the new year.
(If you know of other organizations accepting gently used winter textiles and boots, please reach out to us on our facebook page so we can help get the word out.)