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At a warehouse in Philadelphia’s East Falls neighborhood, volunteers sorted through large blue bins of children’s clothes, shoes and school supplies, making sure each item is free of stains or holes.
Each year, Cradles to Crayons collects hundreds of thousands of donations to help fight clothing insecurity and keep textiles out of landfills.
“All of these items are things that would probably otherwise go into landfills,” said Michal Smith, executive director, as she walked through rows of containers filled with coats, dresses and pants.
The nonprofit, with locations in Philadelphia, Chicago and Boston, said it diverts more than half a million pounds of clothing from landfills each year, and distributes 1 million packages of clothing, shoes and other essentials to children and their families.
As Earth Day rolls around, Cradles to Crayons is urging people to reduce their impact on the environment by donating unwanted, gently used items at the nonprofit’s Spring Greening Donation Drive, taking place across the Philadelphia region.
Millions of tons of fabric waste are sent to incinerators or landfills every year, where they can release climate-warming greenhouse gases, and leach chemicals and dyes into the soil and groundwater. The average U.S. consumer throws away about 80 pounds of clothing a year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Meanwhile, an estimated two in five kids nationwide are in need of adequate clothing. In the Philadelphia region alone, about 28% of children live below the poverty line, according to Pew Charitable Trusts.
“For many of our kids, our clothing is the only clothing they’ll receive in a season. For many families living on minimum wage, with inflation biting like crazy now, just putting enough food on the table is tough,” Smith said. “There is so much opportunity for people to think about us around Earth Day, and provide us with clothing so that we can then turn around and give it back to kids.”
