Donate your unwanted bras

With the upcoming arrival of a new member of the family, it is a great time for a massive clearout.  I need to make room for more toys, lots of pink clothes, and another little person.  I also need to make room in my routine for washing nappies again, spending quality time with each of my loved ones, and somehow make room for me.

I think that decluttering is quite helpful for making room physically and mentally.  So I am bagging up things for charity, to give to friends, and maybe even to sell if I get around to it.  Now bras are always a bit awkward.  The only thing worse is socks.  You can only make so many sock puppets and dusters from holey socks, and who darns these days...

So there are a few options of what you can do with your unwanted bras and here is what I will be doing with mine this week.

BreastTalk.co.uk

Simply attach a little label with the bra size on each bra with a paper clip.  Then post to:

BreastTalk.co.uk-Bra Appeal
P.O.Box 71
Craven Arms
Shropshire
SY7 0WZ

They will distribute bras here and abroad while raising money for breast cancer.

There are other charities out there and most charity shops accept bras as well.

Donating Sanitary Protection

All over the world there are girls who miss a week of school each month because they cannot afford sanitary protection.  Women can also miss out on income if they cannot manage their monthly bleed.  Check out this article about girls from Zimbabwe here.

Here is how you can help, whether your sew, purchase goods to send, donate materials, or money.

Donatepads.org--they have loads of information, organisations to donate to and patterns
Project Thrive--US based charity, includes information on their work, as well as patterns for pads and wet bags
Sister Hope--this woman has not only distributed pads to schoolgirls in Uganda, but has created a business for women in Uganda to make pads for girls and bags for the rest of us to buy

Donating Goods to Charity

There isn't much that can beat the feeling of donating clothes, books, and home goods to charity.  I love decluttering, reusing, recycling, and if it can make some money for a charity at the same time I think we all end up winners! 

I do sometimes wonder if they can really use my stuff though.  Am I making a difference or do they just toss it when it doesn't sell.  Well, most charity shops in the UK can at least sell all unsold textiles (you can donate your real old rags, for this reason), and earn money that way too.  The textiles are sold to companies which can sort and use them in a variety of ways.  This means that even if no one wants to buy your out of fashion garments they won't end up in a landfill.  Another win-win, if you ask me.

And check this out.  Next time you donate in a UK charity shop, they might ask you if you want to Gift Aid your donation.  If you are a UK taxpayer you can sign a form stating that you want the charity to receive the full amount on the goods they sold, rather than having to pay the taxman.  When I signed up to the scheme at the British Heart Foundation a few months back, they gave me a card with a unique reference number.  A couple of weeks ago they sent me an e-mail to tell me that so far my goods have earned them £37!  And here I was wondering if I was making a difference....

Donate your Hair

In terms of ease, this is a great way to do your bit for someone who has lost their hair due to cancer or alopecia.  A quick Internet search can provide you with a number of charities willing to take hair which they send off to make wigs.  Some charities specialise in giving wigs to children, some to women with cancer, and some have a mix of recipients.  You can choose a charity to match your sentiments as well as your hair.  There are a few which will take dyed hair, and some will take shorter hair as well. 

Here is a woman who has done some research on a few different charities when she chose to donate her hair a few years back How to choose

It has been a while since I had a haircut, and so I have plenty of hair to donate.  This is good, because most charities require at least 8 inches, and most require 10 inches of clean, undyed hair.

Here is one of the charities I am considering donating to:

littleprincesses.org.uk


In the USA you can try:

LocksofLove (my sister grows and donates her hair here every year!)

But there are plenty of places out there!

Fish Fight

Have you signed up yet?

So it is estimated that North Sea fishermen are discarding half of their catch (dead) due to a combination of our taste in fish and the current EU rules on fishing quotas.  There must be a better solution to feed us and actually help create sustainable fishing.

According to the website:

"We need to diversify our fish eating habits, and we need to change policy so that it works for fish, fishermen, and consumers."

Check it out at fishfight.net

The website lists a few ways to help including signing the petition to be presented to EU parliament, writing letters to your MP, and choosing different varieties of fish.