Working to keep materials out of landfills
We store gently used, seasonally inappropriate baby and kid clothing, like swimsuits in the winter to give them a second chance at being reused by the community. We are working to make the world more green by connecting communities with their resources and influencing their views on used materials. We do this by supporting community swaps, storing clothing, and educating community members.
How You Can Support
Financial Contributions
Our services are free for the betterment of the community. We appreciate any level of monetary contribution.
Engage
Sign up to the email list for updates about upcoming events and opportunities to volunteer.
Keep attending swaps.
Spread the word about our efforts.
Connect
Email Materials for Families if you know of other potential swap hosting communities, storage, moving, or funding resources.
Provide feedback on how to help improve our services.
Before Buying New
Consider Clothing Waste
Just because you can buy new doesn’t mean you should
Too much clothing creation in the US pollutes the environment with the clothing itself, as well as the dyes and energy it takes to create and transport the clothing materials.
Too much clothing consumption in the US leads to flooding markets in other countries.
Clothing ends up in landfills because there is. too much for these markets to consume.
Other countries lose out on the opportunity to create clothing that reflects their own culture because our “donated” Throwaway clothing is so cheap.
More about Materials for Families
After organizing three Baby and Kid Stuff swaps, it became apparent that many wonderful pieces of clothing were being passed up because they were not seasonally appropriate. It makes sense to donate seasonally appropriate items to partner organizations. However, passing on items they can not place immediately causes problems for these organizations. Meanwhile, this decreases the item's chance of being reused before ending up in a landfill. Wishing there was a way to keep these valuable resources within the community was one big spark in creating Materials for Families.
Material for Families works to keep things out of landfills by collecting gently used kids' clothing, supplies, and toys and then redistributing them to new families. We do this by helping organize community Baby and Kid Stuff Swaps. After the swap, surplus materials are donated to partner organizations that can use the donations immediately. We store seasonally inappropriate clothing, like swimsuits in the winter, for future swaps to give them a second chance at being reused by the community. We are working to make the world more green by connecting communities with their resources and influencing their views on used materials. All these services are done free of charge to put friction in the landfill pipeline.
Contact Us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!