Your Obsession With “Tidying Up” Might Just Be Overwhelming Your Local Thrift Store
Unless you’ve been living under a pile of your dirty clothes, chances are, you’ve heard of “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” It is probably even more likely that you’ve already binge-watched the entire series on Netflix since it released on January 1st. Don’t worry, no shame here so did I.
My entire apartment saw a massive upheaval post-“Tidying Up.” I emptied my entire dresser onto my bed to sort through the clothing that I wanted to keep and wanted to thank. I found that there were many items inside the dresser that did not “spark joy.” As Marie Kondo suggests, if the item doesn’t spark joy, it is time to thank it for what it’s done for you and say goodbye. I’m quite obviously not the first person to do this since watching “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” and it seems that all of our donations might be overwhelming thrift stores.
Thrift stores across the country have seen an uptick in donations in the last two weeks. Anyone who has been following the KonMari Method has tossed all of their clothes in a garbage bag and brought them down to their local donation center or thrift store.
According to TODAY, Goodwill stores across counties in Maryland have seen a 42% increase in donations since the beginning of 2019. Donations have also increased at Goodwill’s in the Washington, D.C. area by 66% in the first week of the new year, which is a 367% increase compared to this time last year.
While speaking with TODAY, Amy Lyons, a spokesperson for Goodwill Industries of Monocacy Valley, said:
“Out of our eight stores that we do have, our nine donation centers, all but two of them currently have seen quite an increase from last year around this time, year to date. Last year we stayed pretty flat throughout the year, we didn’t have much of an increase at all in our donations, so to suddenly see the… increase is pretty great.”
Lyons couldn’t say if the donations were directly related to Marie Kondo’s Netflix show, or if they came in because people are donating clothes because of a New Year’s resolution. Typically, people are not surveyed when they donate clothes.
Clothing isn’t the only item being donated. Book lovers were up in arms that Marie Kondo suggested giving away books. However, many people are actually donating their books to their local library.
If you’re getting rid of old books, Marie Kondo-style or otherwise, consider donating them to your local library! Many branches have Friends groups that put on book sales with donated items. Contact your library to see if they’re accepting donations: https://t.co/c9UKjTcu9y pic.twitter.com/KvU4xnJtjG
— Fairfax Library (@fairfaxlibrary) January 10, 2019
If you do not have a Goodwill close to you, there are plenty of options for where to donate clothing. You can check your local supermarket for bins in the parking lot where you can donate clothing and shoes. You can search online for other places in your area to donate clothing, like The Salvation Army. Keep in mind, there are certain items of clothing that you cannot donate. If you have a shirt that is so ratty and torn, you’d never wear it in public, Goodwill suggests repurposing that at home instead of donating it. You can actually donate clean used underwear and socks to Goodwill. If they deem it isn’t in good enough condition, they’ll sell to rag manufacturers.