100% Recyclable Kid Clothes

El Nino forecasts may have Southern Californians pulling out their rain boots and slickers between dips in the backyard pool, but outside Palm Paradise, many families are noticing the familiar chill that signals winter’s imminence.

Temperate or not, the change in season also means warmer clothes. Children will dump last year’s models--which, simply by hanging in a closet or lying in a drawer--have become three sizes too small.

Kids of the cost-conscious may inherit the wardrobe of a sibling or bigger cousin. But if the outgrown garments carry the sturdy Hanna Andersson label, parents often ship them back to the company. Hannadowns is an unusual program that provides quality used clothing from the well-known Hanna Andersson catalog to children in need through local charities. The children’s clothing catalog asks caring customers to return their children’s outgrown “Hannas” in good condition for a credit of 20% of their original cost. The brightly colored cotton-knit garments are then shipped to children around the world.

Each month, more than 3,000 “Hannadowns” are returned to Hanna. More than 750,000 items of clothing--from baby socks to big, baggy parkas--have been donated since the program was launched in 1985.