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SHARED by: Karina Fedasz, Co-Founder of Little Bean Sprout

Spring is in the air and many of us have started to clean out our children’s closets to help make room for new spring and summer wardrobes. Looking at that big pile of clothing that is being discarded, are you experiencing that all too familiar feeling of discomfort around all that “stuff” (and money) that you are casting aside? Do you wish that you had piece of mind that you got plenty of mileage and useful life around the clothing so that you got your money’s worth, and at the same time created less waste? Let us help. We’ve put together 5 helpful tips to make the most out of your children’s clothing moving forward and to help you become a more sustainable parent.

1. Look at the tag – One of the most important ways to ensure the longevity of your children’s garments is to follow the manufacturer’s suggested care instructions. We know it’s easy to throw everything into the washing machine, set it to warm/hot and let it run, but are you doing the sustainable thing? Are those garments going to last? Hot water and heat are harsh on garments. When possible, we recommend using cooler water and skipping the dryer to hang dry. Kids clothing gets notoriously dirty so stock up on your favorite stain remover to help keep clothes as dirt free as possible. For stain removal, our favorites are The Laundress “Stain Solution” (which can be purchased here) and Oxy Clean. You can spot clean stains with either of these and they do a great job of removing the stain when pre-treated before wash. For further stain tips, see For Better Living’s stain removal chart.
2. Choose your fabric – To get additional mileage from your children’s garments, pay attention to fabric choices. Organic cotton, cotton, wool, cashmere, silk, flax, hemp and other natural fibers generally wear well and last longer, especially when garment care instructions are observed. Sustainability-wise, cottons are notorious for requiring significant amounts of water in the manufacturing process, making them a somewhat less sustainable natural fiber than others. However, rayons and viscose fibers (including those made of bamboo) are much less sustainable, requiring harsh chemicals in the manufacturing process and are actually quite harmful to the environment. For further information, see Textile Exchange’s report on Eco Fibers.
3. Vintage…not just for adults – A fun way to ensure further use of garments is to reuse or upcycle from existing pieces. Besides being on point fashion-wise by working “vintage” items with a lot of character into your wardrobe repertoire, you are also extending the useful life of a perfectly good item. In addition, many teens today are riding the upcycle wave by looking to thrift shops to acquire articles of clothing for the purpose of using them in a creation of their very own making. Using material from existing clothes, you can make entirely new pieces of clothing or add embellishments that make an old garment feel new again. This creative use of existing items is easily applied to kids clothes too, and sewing does not have to be required. Today’s fabric glues adhere pieces together very well, without having to spend hours at the sewing machine. For creative inspiration, check out the following DIY Upcycled Clothing Projects.
4. Donate – When the garment is just not going to go any further with you, it’s time to think about planning for the next stage of its “useful” life (said tongue in cheek). If the quality of the item is relatively decent, consider donating to resale or consignment. A resale shop should pay you for the item upfront or offer a charitable receipt for your donation, whereas a consignment shop will pay you some portion of the sales price upon selling the item (they take a cut first to cover the overhead associated with marketing and staffing the consignment shop). Otherwise, donate to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army. Both will ensure that articles of clothing do not end up in the landfill. In fact, only about 10% of the items donated to these charities actually get purchased in the thrift store channel. Instead, most of them end up being shipped off to other parts of the world for penny on the dollar resale or are purchased by textile recyclers who tear up the fibers and either turn them into new fibers or into rags and other second hand textile needs (rags, sofa stuffing, etc). Either way, don’t toss your old clothes into the waste bin no matter what shape they’re in. They can have another use (under garments are not included in this statement).
5. Buy Less – The best way to ensure that you’re living sustainably when it comes to clothing is to limit what you buy. Do you or the kids really need those “fast fashion” pants from Target, which will be worn once and then tossed into the back of the closet? Probably not. At the same time, as parents, we get to set a good example to our kids by showing restraint and saving the money for something more desirable in the not-so-distant future. Spring cleaning is an ideal time to help make the connections about want vs. need and how that plays into being good stewards of the planet. Take advantage of the wonderful teaching opportunity!

Little Bean Sprout is an online baby and kids’ clothing shop that provides a more sustainable and less wasteful model for the buy-outgrow-toss cycle of kids’ clothing. Consumers can purchase new or gently used items from Little Bean Sprout’s continually growing list of brands in sizes newborn to six. When little ones outgrow the clothing, customers can sell back the clothing originally purchased from Little Bean Sprout for cash or store credits. To sell back, it’s as easy as placing the items in the provided mailer, affixing the prepaid shipping label and placing it in a mailbox!