Part of sustainability means thinking twice before you throw items away. Sometimes we decide a clothing item can be trashed because there's a rip, hole or stain on it but here are 5 ways you can try and salvage that item instead of tossing it:

1. Learn a few simple sewing techniques to help you repair or alter items easily. Youtube is incredibly helpful for whatever you need.

2. OR Bring them to a tailor or even certain dry cleaners. Get those pants hemmed, get that sleeve fixed and make the garment something you will be excited to wear!

3. For knit items (especially socks) you can darn the holes that appear over time. Bea Johnson has an easy "How-To" on her website.

4. Sometimes stains are what keeps us from wearing our favorite item but Bea has some tips for that too: "Savon de Marseille, dishwasher detergent, chalk, lemon or vinegar work great on stains." ALSO don't forget that as gross as this may seem, your spit can get out a stain of your own blood, and white wine will get out red wine stains!

5. DIY! Start simple by cropping an old t-shirt, go with the ever-popular denim cut-offs, or patch up those unwanted holes in your beloved pair of jeans. There's an insane amount of DIY projects to peruse on the internet so I highly recommend taking the time to find DIY blogs or websites that capture your personal style! This will take some research but the findings are pretty amazing.

These are tips to start you thinking about saving some clothing items but if all of this fails there are some great ways to give away those items you no longer want. More on that next week so stay tuned or subscribe below to make sure you never miss a post!