Date: October 5, 2016

To: Goodwill
From: Katie Maxwell, Retail Associate
Subject: Proposal for increasing education on how to recycle clothing
Purpose
The purpose of my proposal is to request that your company make an effort to educate
people on the true cost of their clothing, and how you can help provide a more
sustainable solution to getting rid of old clothes. I will be conducting research on the
most effective method of recycling clothes from a company standpoint.
Summary
On September 21, 2016, I noticed that I did not know what happened to all my unwanted
clothes when I take them to a donation center. I know that some clothes are too worn and
cannot be sold, but what does a donation center, like Goodwill, do with these clothes. My
plan is to study the trends within buying and getting rid of clothes, where people decide
to take their unwanted clothes, where the clothes go from there, and the knowledge
people have about each step of this process, and present my findings.
Currently, Goodwill does not have any form of education for its customers on what they
plan to do with their donated clothes. Most customers assume that their clothes will be
sold in the store, but some donations cannot be sold because they are too worn. Many
people do not think about what happens to their clothes after they drop them off, but I
feel it would be beneficial to give the customers this information and create a greener
business model to appeal to todays society. By taking additional steps to ensure
customers that their clothes will benefit a greater cause and have a better effect on the
environment, people will be more likely to donate to Goodwill.
Therefore, I propose to research to find the most effective method of educating customers
on a greener business model and survey customers to see if this would make them more
likely to donate to Goodwill when they get rid of their clothes. To perform these tasks, I
would carry out primary and secondary research. Then, I would collect and analyze the
data and write a report.
To perform this research and present a recommendation report, I estimate that I would
require approximately one month, at a cost of $1,600. I have worked in retail for three
years as merchandise flow specialist. My primary job was to ensure that our products
were presented in a visually appealing manner, so that more people would be inclined to
buy our merchandise. Part of this comes from knowing what the customer is looking for
and what they expect from our company. I feel that the best way to sell Goodwill, as the
go to place for clothing donations, is to appeal to todays society of improving the
environment.

If this proposal were approved, I would begin my research immediately, submitting a

recommendation on October 23, 2016. The recommendation report would include the
details of my research and a recommendation regarding how to proceed if you were to
make these changes that I have proposed.
Introduction
Recently I have noticed a trend in the fashion industry, that is that fashion trends are
changing faster than ever. In past generations, there was something known as the Fashion
System where a clothing line was produced for spring, summer, fall, and winter, which is
nowhere near the system we have today. Todays trend is known as Fast Fashion, where
there is something new every few weeks and prices are driven to an all time low to allow
for more consumption. There is a lot to be said about consumption, but what this proposal
will focus on is the effects after consumption. Since fashion is always changing, you have
to clean out your closet every now and then, to make room for your new clothes. At this
stage people make one of three decisions. They could throw them away, donate them, or
sell them to a consignment store.
Once I realized how many clothes were being dumped into landfills, I looked for a way to
change that. I learned that materials could be recycled and used to keep fast fashion more
sustainable. One day I had a pair of jeans with a hole in them and I did not want to throw
them away because that would be wasteful, so I searched for a place that I could take
them to and ensure they would be recycled. I found there is one company in New York
that leaves drop boxes around the city for old clothes, and this company sells these
clothes to manufacturers so that the material can be recycled. Beyond this company, I
could not find anywhere to take my jeans. Since Goodwill is in most cities, I found it
would be beneficial if these recycling boxes were incorporated into their business (Cline).
Not only would Goodwill benefit from this by attracting environmentally friendly
customers, but also our environment.
Currently, Goodwill does not have any form of education for its customers on what they
plan to do with their donated clothes. Most customers assume that their clothes will be
sold in the store, but some donations cannot be sold because they are too worn. Many
people do not think about what happens to their clothes after they drop them off, but I
feel it would be beneficial to give the customers this information and create a greener
business model to appeal to todays society. By taking additional steps to ensure
customers that their clothes will benefit a greater cause and have a better effect on the
environment, people will be more likely to donate to Goodwill.
In the following sections, provided additional details about the proposed tasks, schedule,
budget, my experience, and an annotated bibliography.

Proposed Tasks
With approval, we would perform the following tasks to help determine the best course
of action for informing each client of where their unwanted clothes may go after they are
donated or sold, and allowing them to take part in where the worn out clothes go.
Task 1. Acquire a basic understanding of what people do with their unwanted clothes
and their knowledge of where their clothes go beyond that
I have already begun my research by surveying my peers on where they take their used
clothes when they clean out their closet, and what they think is done with their clothes
once they drop them off at a donation center. Many of my peers have never put thought
into where their clothes go after they drop them off at a donation center, but were
interested to find out.
This task will involve creating a survey for customers that tests their knowledge on what
happens to their clothes after they are dropped off at a donation center. Asks them what
they would like their unwanted clothes to go to if they are no longer useable.
During my research I found an article that had information regarding what people know
about where their unwanted clothes go after they are donated. It gives statistics on how
people feel about each step in the process of deciding what happens to the clothes. A
large percentage of people surveyed would want their clothes to be recycled (Weber).
Task 2. Assess all possible ways to dispose of clothes and which one is more prevalent
My research has given me three possible ways of disposing clothes from a client
standpoint, donating, consignment, or throwing them away. In the short survey with my
peers, I found that each of these choices was evenly used. I found it interesting that some
of my friends would throw their old clothes away if they felt no one would be able to
wear them. This is why there is a large amount of clothes that go into the landfills each
year.
Goodwill currently sells, repurposes, recycles, or trashes the donated clothes. A large
portion of the clothes donated is resold in their stores, but the rest is mostly repurposed
into rags (Strutner). With some additional research I found that recycling clothes for the
fibers to be reused in the process of manufacturing new clothes (Conklin).
Task 3. Determine the best way to educate customers on a green business model
My research will tell me the best way to incorporate recycling unusable clothing into
Goodwills business, but I will need to determine the best way to tell our customers and
potential customers how they will need to go about recycling and donating, while also
letting them know the impact they have in helping us achieve our goal of an
environmentally friendly business model.

To find the best method of educating customers on a new green business model, I will
look to other companies that have a similar business model to see what methods they
used. A company in New York provided drop boxes for their customers, in hopes to
provide a convenient environmentally friendly for people to dispose of their clothes
(Cline).
Task 4: Analyze my data and prepare a recommendation report
I would then draft my recommendation report and send it to the supervisor of Goodwill
and take questions or suggestions of additional research that may need to be done and
present a final draft of the report to the CEO of Goodwill.
Schedule
Figure 1 is a schedule of the tasks we would complete for this project.
Tasks
Task 1: survey clients

Date of Tasks
Week 1

Task 2: research different disposal

methods

Week 2

Task 3: Determine the best way to educate

customers

Week 3

Task 4: Prepare Report

Week 4

Figure 1. Schedule of Project Tasks

Budget
Following is an itemized budget for my proposed research.
Name
Katie Maxwell

Hours
20

Hourly rate
20

Cost
1,600

Experience
I have worked in retail for three years now and I have noticed how fast styles are
changing, how quickly people come in to get something new, which leads to how fast
they throw things away. Not only do I work in retail, but I am also a frequent shopper and
get rid of clothes a few times a year. Therefore, I am able to see not only from a retail
perspective, but from a customers perspective as well.
Annotated Bibliography

Conklin, Christina. "How Textiles Are Saving The World." Surface Design Journal 37.3
(2013): 42-47.OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 8 Oct. 2016.
This article discusses the process of recycling fabric and what they use the new material
for. At the end of a fabrics life, when people get rid of unwanted clothes, the organic
material and synthetic material can be separated and reused. The intended audience is
manufacturing companies, because they are trying to convince manufacturers that
synthetic fabrics are the way to go because they have a longer useful life. This is
important for my research because it shows that certain fabrics can be recycled.
Weber, Sabine. "The Afterlife Of Clothes." Alternatives Journal (A\J) - Canada's
Environmental Voice41.3 (2015): 26-29. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson).
Web. 8 Oct. 2016.
This article discusses all the ways someone can get rid of their unwanted clothes and
where they go from there. If someone throws their clothes away, then they will go to the
landfill and if someone donates their clothes they can be resold, repurposed, or recycled.
It also gives facts about what people think about recycling their clothes.
Cline, Elizabeth. Where Does Discarded Clothing Go? The Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/where-does-discardedclothing-go/374613/ Accessed 8 Oct. 2016.
This article discusses what a New York based company did to promote recycling clothes.
They put drop boxes around the city to collect unwanted clothes and they sell these
clothes to manufacturers to recycle. This allows convenience for the customer and allows
the company to easily make a profit. This is important to my proposal because this
company is doing a small portion of what Goodwill can do, and they are making a great
profit while reducing the amount of clothes in the landfills.
Strutner, Suzy. Heres What Goodwill Actually Does With Your Donated Clothes.
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-does-goodwill-do-withyour-clothes_us_57e06b96e4b0071a6e092352? Accessed 8 Oct. 2016.
This article taught me what Goodwill currently does with the clothes they are unable to
sell. A large percent goes into making rags while a smaller portion goes into recycling,
and the rest goes to landfills. Though reusing the material by making them into rags, once
the rags are used many people throw them away which ends up in the landfill. If we could
get more of the material recycled we would reduce the amount of clothing in landfills.
This information is where I based the majority of my proposal. It is important to know
where the clothes are currently going when donated, in order to improve the amount that
is recycled.