Hand-me-downs are Fun!

Benefits

Environmental Benefit: ★★★★☆
A lot of energy goes into growing cotton, making synthetic cloth, sewing, distributing, selling, and shopping and/or shipping clothing. When they can be used again, there is a large savings in energy and reduction in growing and manufacturing chemical usage. And the landfill reduction from not throwing them out (whether recycled in your family or donated to others).

Money Saved: ★★★☆☆
If you are able to reuse them in your own family, you save money on expensive clothes. If you donate them to a service organization or neighbors then you save them money.

Lifestyle Benefit: ★★☆☆☆
Most people would probably rather have new clothes than hand-me-downs. But our young kids at least do sometimes get a kick out of owning something that they remember (or have seen in pictures) their older sisters wearing previously. Besides, by saving money this way you can buy better clothes - so even if they're not the latest style they are better quality.

What We're Doing

Well, I guess we got a little luckier than most families! With four girls growing up one after the other, we get rather a lot of use out of our clothes. By the time they get to the youngest child, some items like shoes need to be replaced - but others are still good. I imagine this is one thing (recycling clothes) that most people are probably good at doing - hopefully no one is throwing out serviceable clothes when it is so easy to donate them to organizations like Salvation Army, Goodwill, Disabled Veterans, etc. Most of them will even come to your door to pick them up! Note: Regarding the photograph, you'll note that shoes don't always work well for hand-me-downs. Particularly from one generation to the next. There are other unmentionables that probably don't need to be passed down either . . .

A Little Humor

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society."
— Mark Twain