Nordstrom puts a charitable spin on sustainable fashion this fall

Nordstrom is the latest fashion retailer searching for a solution to the tons of clothing that find their way into landfill.

The US department store is partnering with ‘Give Back Box,' to allow customers to donate their old or unwanted clothes and accessories to local nonprofit organizations, via mail. The service, which will be completely free for shoppers, works by encouraging Nordstrom online customers to save the boxes their order is delivered in, and fill it with any clothing, shoes, accessories or small household items they would like to donate. A prepaid shipping label then needs to be printed from the website www.givebackbox.com/Nordstrom, and the box left at any UPS or U.S.P.S. location for collection and distribution.

Nordstrom will begin testing the concept in its six western Washington stores, with donated items being directed to Seattle Goodwill and Goodwill of Olympics and Rainier Region to help fund community programs such as job training or education initiatives.

"Our customers have told us they want to be able to clean out their closets in a more environmentally-friendly way," said Erik Nordstrom, co-president of Nordstrom. "By extending the life of their used items, and encouraging them to reuse the box from their recent Nordstrom order, we're trying to make it easy and convenient to help reduce waste while also being able to support local nonprofit organizations."

The past few years have seen several retailers address the question of how to pair fast fashion with a sustainable attitude towards clothing consumption. One of the best known labels addressing the issue is Swedish retailer H&M, which launched its textile recycling scheme back in 2013, encouraging shoppers to donate old clothing of any brand in return for an in-store discount. The company has created several ‘Close the Loop' collections created from recycled cotton off the back of the concept. Other initiatives include Cotton Incorporated's annual ‘Blue Jeans Go Green' denim recycling program, which asks shoppers to donate old jeans for a discount on brand items such as Rag & Bone pieces, and ocean debris recycler Parley for the Oceans' regular fashion collaborations with brands such as G-star and Stella McCartney, working recycled plastic into new fashion pieces.