CLOTHING SWAPS & DONATIONS
Keeping garment waste out of landfills by circulating it within our community
There are MANY reasons to keep extant clothing in circulation!
Our human-driven mission centers supporting Humboldt’s unhoused population. Good Day Shop is fortunate to be situated in Downtown Arcata, where many of our community members who are particularly down on their luck spend their days. Our outdoor front patio provides an easy access point for us to redistribute secondhand clothing to the folks who need it most — at no cost.
We accept clothing donations on an ongoing basis & take responsibility for maintaining a clean, tidy, safe, accessible redistribution area adjacent to the city sidewalk. Please help us keep our community clothed. Read below to learn about what we accept & when.
According to earth.org, the fashion industry is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions, driving climate change & biodiversity loss. Further, 92 million tons of garment waste end up in landfills every year.*
*Earth.org reported these figures in 2023, & projects an increase to 134 tons per year by the end of the decade.
Although the small-scale actions we can perform on a personal level won’t reverse or even halt large-scale harms to our shared world, the Good Day ethos stands firm in the belief that personal responsibility does matter & does count. If we have the option to do something beneficial, how could we possibly choose not to?
Arcata Marsh photo by Marta Lapczynski, 2025
Good Day Shop hosted its first community clothing swap on August 27th, 2025.
In October of 2025 we are accepting:
all cold-weather garments & accessories, as well as blankets, towels, & tarps
We’ve observed that larger clothing sizes are much more in demand, as are men’s styles. We do not believe clothing is gendered, but we do overhear nearly every remark passersby make about our current selection, & many comments are about the lack of men’s styles, as those are overwhelmingly the first items taken. We also observe socks & undergarments being taken first — thus we are always accepting socks, undergarments, & base layers (such as fitted tank tops, tee shirts, & long underwear) when they are clean & in good wearable condition, as well as seasonal accessories (like scarves, warm hats, & walking shoes in good condition).
We are NOT accepting any other lifestyle items at this time, nor any perishables. (Consider donating those to Arcata House!) We ask you to bring your donations inside the shop during open business hours to be examined; please do not ever just drop them off outside. Any abuse of this system will necessarily result in termination of the entire endeavor. We are very happy to put in the effort toward this cause, but only so long as participants cooperate in keeping the system clean, safe, & manageable — especially because we know the city frowns upon “free piles,” so the exceptionally attentive, detail-oriented management of ours is integral to its success & longevity!
Lastly — & very importantly — we have to ask you to understand that Good Day Shop does occasionally select certain donated items to add to its shop inventory. This whole clothing circulation project is not commercially motivated — it is a community cause — but the shop is really struggling to pay its rent at this time (& is not currently able to pay its proprietor at all for long hours worked every day), so a few special items added to inventory truly do make a difference, potentially even the difference between being able to stay in business or not. If (or more like WHEN) we reach a point of success as a business that it is no longer truly necessary for us to acquire anything out of donations, we will absolutely stop doing so! But as long as we are barely getting by from one day to the next, we ask for your grace in allowing us to select items here & there to resell at low prices. If Good Day Shop goes out of business, none of this can happen anymore, so thank you so much for understanding & for having our backs in this way!!!!! Thank you for trusting our discretion & the integrity of our motivations. Please feel free to ask any questions that might be on your mind when you come in with your donations — open dialogue is always welcome, & nothing is ever shrouded in secrecy.
Thank you for supporting this mission to clothe our neighbors & keep garbage out of landfills!
To be extremely clear, no, you do not have to be living on the street in order to feel entitled take any of the free clothing offered on our patio. If your life will be better because of taking it, please take it! It’s for you, from your community, courtesy of Good Day Shop, with love <3
It was a resounding success! Any anxieties the hosts had held about the possibility of people bringing clothing that was basically garbage, or of the mass of goods turning into a mess of mayhem, were completely quelled as the day progressed. We delighted in the relief we saw as our community members unburdened themselves of clothing they no longer wanted, forged new relationships on the spot, demonstrated consideration & fairness in making sure everyone had time & space to look through the bins, & (many) left triumphantly carrying new treasures. The mass of clothing remained in a state of totally controlled chaos all day, & amongst leftovers there was nothing we considered garbage.
With this experience under our belts, we are very enthusiastic about continuing to host clothing swaps at Good Day Shop. However, during the rainy season, this isn’t feasible with our current spatial limitations. Our next clothing swap is tentatively scheduled to occur in May of 2026.
At clothing swaps, we accept all sizes (youth & adult) & all styles with no limitations. During the rest of the year, we will continue to accept select clothing donations for redistribution. Read below for more details about what we are currently accepting. We’ll update this list as needed.
Thriftvintagefashion.org reports that about 85% of clothing donated to thrift stores ends up in landfills anyway; only about 15% of it is sold or recycled into new garments. By accepting only seasonally appropriate items & by personally overseeing their redistribution, Good Day Shop ensures that none of your donations will go to waste on our watch. By agreeing to accept donations, we are committing ourselves to making sure these items go where they are truly wanted. It’s a joy, honestly, to watch people selecting new goods for themselves at no cost every day; the “free shop” portion of Good Day Shop has brought a very rewarding new dimension to the business that we are thrilled to continue to develop.