Every day, millions of
people clean out their
closets, attics and
basements. Instead of throwing
out the things you no longer need,
give them to Goodwill, and we will
sell or recycle them. It’s a cycle
that extends the life of usable
clothing and other goods and
earns revenue for Goodwill
programs that benefit thousands
of people right here in West
Michigan.
At Goodwill, going green is nothing new. For over 100 years, Goodwill has been reusing, repurposing, and recycling the things people no longer want. Founded on a business model of selling donated clothing and other household items, these goods stay out of the waste stream, reducing our collective carbon footprint. It’s a cycle that extends the life of usable items, while earning revenue for Goodwill’s mission-based programs.
At Goodwill Industries of West Michigan we divert 75% of all donated
materials from ending up in landfills. Our goal is to increase this to 90%
by 2012.
In 2008, Goodwill Industries of West Michigan:
- diverted 10,907,550 pounds of waste from landfills
- demanufactured or refurbished 609,092 pounds of computer equipment
- reused or recycled over 72% of our donated goods, generating over $9.4 million in revenue or 73% of our annual budget
Clothing and hard goods not suitable for resale are sorted and sold to various recyclers or salvage brokers for the greatest value.