Every year thousands of pounds of clothing are tossed in the garbage, making their way into landfills while wreaking havoc on ol’ Mother Earth. As much as 95 percent of these clothes could be used again; re-worn, reused or recycled - depending on the state of the garment.

As one of the biggest retailer in the world, H&M wants to work to reduce that waste with their new Global Clothes Collecting Initiative. The company’s sustainability department says that beginning February “customers can save natural resources and contribute to reduced environmental impact by avoiding textile waste. Any pieces of clothing, from any brand and in any condition are accepted. In return, the customer will receive a voucher for each bag brought. The collected clothes are then handled by H&M’s partner, I:Collect, which provides the infrastructure in which consumer goods are repeatedly reprocessed and made available for new use.”

Final details on exactly discount that voucher gives you or which of the Portland area stores are participating haven’t yet surfaced, but we’ll keep you in the loop once the details are finalized. Regardless of the voucher amount, it’s a nice way to know your closet cleaning session is both responsible and rewarded.