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Please consider giving away your old clothes to charity instead of throwing them away.

Some people wear their clothes until the new holes are bigger than the arm holes, and if you’re one of those people, more power to you, but eventually there comes a time when you just don’t wear that shirt or those pants or those shoes anymore.

You have to figure out how to dispose of them, and it’s not always easy to do. You could throw them away (and with undergarments you probably should), but it’s wasteful. Perhaps someone else could use the clothes for which you no longer have need.

Of course, no one will want your clothes if the clothes are dirty and smelly, so you’ll have to clean them, which presents a challenge with something like a shoe. How do you wash a shoe?

Shirts and pants are easy to clean, though, and donation is a viable and noble option for these kinds of garments. Toss them in the washer and dryer, then fold them up neatly and they’re ready to be handed over to a new recipient.

Unless it’s a family member, you probably shouldn’t hand it over directly. It is not, for example, advisable to walk up to a stranger on the street and inquire if he would like your old shirt.

Fortunately, established charities, thrift stores and other such organizations exist for this very purpose. You can hand off your (cleaned) old clothing to them and they can make it available to the needy.

Sometimes your grocery store or other public places might hold a coat drive or some such event where you can accomplish the same goal.

Consider donating your old clothing and you can help somebody else in one of the best ways possible.