Give H&M Your Old Clothes, Get a Discount By giving credit for recycled items, it hopes to fuel sales of new duds

 

Carlos Alcaraz, Spanish tennis player

It's Memorial Day weekend, and I’m at home looking at my closet, which is packed with clothes I haven't worn since retiring. Oh gosh, it feels so overwhelming to know I'm giving these clothes "free rent" when I don't even wear 20% of them.

I went shopping the other day at a sportswear store, where I saw a poster of my favorite tennis player, Carlos Alcaraz, showcasing the latest tennis wear. I seriously need to stop. I've bought so many clothes that I just don't need anymore. Whether it's for work or play, it's time for me to scale down my wardrobe.

How can I solve this overabundance of extra clothing? Well, I found a retail store that offers a great incentive. If you turn in any of your old clothes, they will give you a credit for a future purchase at their store—a sort of "reset" incentive. Get all the old, excess clothes out, and then shop for more worthwhile pieces. The store? H&M, the fast-fashion retailer.

I was quite skeptical at first, but it actually works! They took about a pound or two of my clothing, no questions asked, and gave me a discount voucher for a future purchase.

It seems like a win-win situation: saving yourself time, money, and the headache of managing extra inventory in your closet. I'll definitely continue to do this the next time I need to refresh my wardrobe moving forward.