Consumer returns often create waste, but not when they’re redirected to those who need them. “Returns are the best kept secret in retail,” says Disney Petit, the founder and CEO of LiquiDonate, which helps 150 brands send their excess inventory—returns and overstocked items—to more than 4,000 charities and nonprofits that need it. The idea came during the pandemic, when Petit began photographing personal items to give away; by 2023, she’d launched LiquiDonate, with Restoration Hardware as its first retail partner. Now she estimates the company has kept over 12.3 million pounds of goods—from clothing to furniture to nonperishable food—from landfills.