{"id":4416,"date":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/swap\/?page_id=4416"},"modified":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T09:00:00","slug":"where-the-clothes-go","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bloomministries.org\/swap\/where-the-clothes-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Where the clothes go"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Where the clothes go \u00b7 Bloom Swap<\/p>

Nothing is sold. Nothing is wasted on purpose.<\/span> Here is the whole path.<\/em><\/h1><\/span>

Every piece given to Bloom Swap follows one path: sorted, laundered, hung on a rack at a free swap, and, if nobody takes it, back to storage for the next swap or out to neighbors without homes. What cannot be worn will go to a textile recycler rather than a landfill. At no point is anything sold.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Give clothes<\/span><\/svg><\/a>The impact page<\/span><\/svg><\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span>Never sold<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/span><\/span>Laundered first<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/span><\/span>Every move recorded<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/span><\/span>Figures public<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

The short answer<\/p>

Where donated clothes go, from a bag to a neighbor.<\/h2>

To a rack first. Then, if nobody takes it, to the next rack or to someone who needs it more urgently.<\/p><\/header>\n

Bloom Swap exists to put clothes on people, so the path is built to keep a piece in circulation for as long as someone might wear it. A shirt given in spring may hang at more than one swap before it finds the person it fits. A coat that waits on the racks through a summer may go out through a congregation\u2019s clothing drive to a neighbor sleeping outside in the winter. Only when a piece cannot be worn by anyone does it leave the path, and then for recycling rather than the trash.<\/p>\n

Nothing is sold at any point: not at a swap, not to a shop, not by the bag. Bloom owns the clothing from the moment it is given, and Bloom\u2019s rule is that what was given freely is given freely again.<\/p><\/div><\/section>

Eight steps<\/p>

The whole path, step by step. Follow a shirt.<\/em><\/h2>

This is the route every donated piece takes. Two of the steps, drives and recycling, begin when the first drive is held and the recycling arrangement is signed.<\/p><\/header>

  1. 01<\/span>

    Donated<\/h3>

    You bring it to a swap or arrange it with Bloom. From that moment it is Bloom\u2019s inventory, recorded in the ledger as intake.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  2. 02<\/span>

    Sorted<\/h3>

    Volunteers check every piece. Anything stained, torn, worn through or broken fails the standard, as do undergarments without tags, because a guest should be handed something they would be glad to wear.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  3. 03<\/span>

    Laundered<\/h3>

    What passes is laundered before it goes anywhere near a rack, so nobody has to wonder.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  4. 04<\/span>

    To a swap<\/h3>

    Bloom delivers it to the host venue the day before and hangs it by size and style. Guests take what fits who they are.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  5. 05<\/span>

    Back to storage<\/h3>

    What nobody takes comes back the day after. Nothing is left behind at the venue.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  6. 06<\/span>

    The next swap, or a drive<\/h3>

    It waits for the next rack or, once drives begin, goes out through a congregation\u2019s clothing drive.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  7. 07<\/span>

    To neighbors without homes<\/h3>

    Drive clothing will reach unhoused neighbors in Salem and Portland through organizations that already serve them, named here only with their consent.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>

  8. 08<\/span>

    Recycled<\/h3>

    What cannot be worn by anyone will go to a textile recycler, named here when the arrangement is signed, not to a landfill.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ol>\n

    Why recycling matters: most textiles thrown away in the United States go to landfill. The EPA\u2019s figures on textiles<\/a> show the scale.<\/p><\/div><\/section>

    How it is counted<\/p>

    The ledger, explained. Counted, not estimated.<\/em><\/h2>

    Every movement on the path is a dated row in the program\u2019s inventory ledger. The figures on this site come from those rows and nowhere else.<\/p><\/header>\n

    The ledger records four kinds of movement, each by category and count: clothing coming in as intake, going out to a swap, going out to a drive, and discarded when it cannot be worn. Each row carries its date. Nobody types a total; the totals are added up from the rows.<\/p>\n

    That is why a figure with no rows behind it says \u201cnot yet counted\u201d rather than zero or a guess. When rows are entered, the figures below and on the impact page<\/a> change with them.<\/p>\n

    1<\/span>Bloom Swaps held<\/span><\/div>
    Not yet counted<\/span>Host venues signed<\/span><\/div>
    Not yet counted<\/span>Partners active<\/span><\/div>
    Not yet counted<\/span>Pieces circulated<\/span><\/div>
    Not yet counted<\/span>Pieces to clothing drives<\/span><\/div><\/div>

    Counted from the program\u2019s own records on 13 October 2026. A figure with no records says so.<\/p><\/div><\/section>