At Goodwill of the Olympics & Rainier Region, stewardship is one of our core values. We maximize the value of donated goods to generate the most funding for job training and to keep as much material out of the landfills as possible.
When people donate their used household goods to us, we sell them at discounted prices in our 33 retail stores, blue boutiques or online at shopgoodwill.com. Items that don’t sell go to one of our three outlets in Tacoma, Kent and Olympia where their prices are further reduced for shoppers in search of the ultimate bargain.
What about the leftovers? Many unsold items still have value to others outside our community. These items are sorted and sold to vendors who serve people in underdeveloped countries. Items that are unsuitable for resale are sorted into raw materials to be recycled or repurposed, another revenue source.
This retail stream enables Goodwill to convert about 83% of donated goods into revenue for job training and services for our program participants.
Goodwill is working towards zero waste.
We partner with other community programs to realize maximum efficiency in our processes.
Threadcycle
Threadcycle is a program to keep worn-out clothes, shoes and linens out of landfills. On average, US citizens throw away about 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year, but up to 95% of these items could be reused or recycled.
Goodwill wants your textiles in any condition except wet, mildewed or contaminated with hazardous materials. Bring us your torn or stained clothing, worn linens and single shoes and socks. We’ll sell them to be repurposed into new products.
e-cycle
Goodwill accepts unwanted computers, laptops, TVs and monitors—working or not—free of charge. Usable items are sold at our stores to shoppers who can use them. Broken or damaged items are responsibly recycled, keeping them out of the waste stream.
Visit goodwillwa.org/donate/guidelines/ for information about what items Goodwill can and cannot accept.