Here’s What You Helped Keep Out of the Landfill in 2022
In honor of Earth Week, we wanted to share how Goodwill was green before being green was cool. Sustainability has always been at the heart of Goodwill’s work and mission. Our founder, Reverend Edgar J. Helms, once said, “Goodwill saves the waste in men and things.”
Goodwill North Central Texas strives to be good stewards of all that we are given to ensure the best future for our students, our clients, our community, our organization, and of course, our planet. We are proud to be a leader in sustainability and one of the largest recyclers in North Texas. Over the past decade, our recycling initiatives have evolved into an approach that as of today, diverts more than 2,000 tons of waste from landfills each month!
In 2022 alone, 871,833 donors gave 53,061,260 pounds of donations to Goodwill North Central Texas. Of those, 29,565,460 pounds were diverted from the landfill through sales in our stores and online, and 15,497,1400 pounds were given a second life through recycling. This represents a total diversion rate of 85%, on track to reach our goal of becoming a Zero Waste facility!
Goodwill is a key player in the modern reuse economy because our operational model relies on systems to reuse and recycle secondhand material. When you shop at Goodwill, your affordable purchase helps us stop waste at the source by reducing the demand for new goods.
Did you know:
- It takes more than 5,000 gallons of water to produce the amount of cotton needed to produce one t-shirt and a pair of jeans. (World Wildlife Fund)
- Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014. Across almost all apparel categories, consumers keep their clothing items about half as long as they did 15 years ago. (McKinsey & Company)
- Combined, the apparel and footwear industry account for approximately 8 percent of global climate impacts. (Quantis)
- More than 70 million trees are logged every year to create textile fabric. (Forbes/Zady)
- Nearly 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make polyester. However, polyester takes more than 200 years to decompose. (Forbes/Zady)
- The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average person throws away 81 pounds of clothing per year. That adds up to 3.8 billion pounds of unnecessary waste added to our landfills. (EPA)
Calculate the impact of your Goodwill donations across the triple bottom line: personal tax savings, mission and environment with Goodwill Industries International’s Donation Impact Calculator.