By Harley Pflugh
Sustainability encompasses our goals and mission as an organization. What better way to promote our motto and efforts than through a donation clothing drive? We want to help students get sustainably rid of their clothes and rehome their once-loved pieces to others who would appreciate them! With the school year winding down and students clearing their closets to head back home, this event was the perfect opportunity for CDR.
Last year, I was positioned to make the CDR Clothing Drive go from imagination to reality. Not only was it a success, but it brought the community of SRU together. Friends would stop by and dig through the clothing bins to discover hidden gems that complement their wardrobe.
How did we acquire all these clothes?! We had a mission to make it accessible for students to drop off their unwanted clothes in pink bins around campus dorms and public areas, such as the library and student center. An overwhelming amount of clothes accumulated and filled CDR members’ hearts with joy thinking, “This can actually work!”
After leaving the bins out for two weeks, the amount of clothes collected came out to a total of 12 hefty bags; all of which avoided the chance of ending up in the garbage. Figure 1 by Green America highlights the reality of what happens to our textile waste (Porter, 2018). Figure 1. Our goal for this clothing drive was to avoid contributing to landfills and give the students of Slippery Rock University a chance to rehome these clothes.
Students stopped by the pop-up shop and looked through the rack of clothes and bins organized by category (ie. jeans, athletic clothes, graphics tees, etc.). By the end of the pop-up shop, half of the clothes received new homes in Slippery Rock!
What did CDR do with the remainder of the clothes that did not get a home? Donations were made to local women's shelters to support the community and avoid contributing to the landfill issues textile waste has contributed to.
This year, the CDR Clothing Drive will be reigniting and collaborating with Branded in Butler. CDR looks forward to your donations from April 1st to the 15th and is more excited to see you at the pop-up shops April 16th and April 23rd!