ESG Outlook is Sourcing Journal’s discussion series with industry executives to get their take on their company’s latest environmental, social and governance initiatives and their own personal efforts toward sustainability. Here, Disney Petit, founder and CEO of excess inventory solution LiquiDonate, shares how to get more value out of returns and why sustainability can actually create cost savings.
Name: Disney Petit
Title: Founder and CEO
Company: LiquiDonate
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Could you provide a brief overview of your company?
LiquiDonate is a logistics technology platform transforming how retailers and brands handle excess inventory and returns. Founded in 2021, the company matches unsold, overstock and returned items with vetted nonprofits in real time—diverting products from landfills, lowering logistics costs and driving measurable social and environmental impact. By embedding sustainability into supply chains and leveraging artificial intelligence for smart routing, LiquiDonate helps companies turn waste into value and build a circular economy that benefits both communities and the planet.
LiquiDonate was created to solve a broken system, and we’re just getting started. Retailers shouldn’t have to choose between profitability and purpose. With the right tech, they can do both. Our mission is to make donation the default, not the exception.
What do you consider your company’s best ESG-related achievement over the last five years?
Since launch, LiquiDonate has donated over 11 million items to more than 800 nonprofit partners—ranging from homeless shelters to mutual aid groups to public schools. That’s inventory that would have otherwise gone to landfill or been liquidated. We’ve saved businesses millions in logistics and disposal fees while empowering nonprofits with much needed resources.
What is your company’s latest ESG-related initiative?
LiquiDonate’s newest innovation tackles the hidden sustainability crisis in customer returns. Our Magic Match technology allows unsellable or low-value returned items to be routed directly from the customer to a nearby nonprofit automatically. This reduces reverse logistics costs, eliminates unnecessary carbon emissions and ensures those items serve a purpose locally. It’s a win for the business, the environment and the community.
What is the biggest misconception consumers have about sustainability in fashion/accessories?
That sustainability costs more. In reality, waste is expensive. When brands ship unsellable inventory back to warehouses or third-party liquidators—or worse, destroy it—the financial and environmental costs are high. Direct donation, especially local, is often the cheaper and faster option. With LiquiDonate, brands can automate this process and even reduce returns fraud by replacing “keep it” policies with donation-based alternatives that require no customer disclosure. Sustainability is no longer a cost center—it’s a cost-saving strategy.
What was your company’s biggest takeaway from the Covid crisis that’s still relevant today?
The rise of e-commerce is permanent, and it comes with massive amounts of returns and surplus inventory. LiquiDonate was built for this reality. Our tools were designed to handle decentralized inventory, on-demand donation routing and fast nonprofit matching, creating a new model for post-purchase sustainability in a post-Covid world.
As consumers become more aware of worker conditions and how clothing is produced, how can the industry best spread the word on progress?
Transparency is key. Younger consumers want to see brands prove their values, not just talk about them. That means publishing ESG metrics, integrating sustainability into company culture and using storytelling—on social media, tags and packaging—to connect impact with product. Companies that do this well earn trust and loyalty.
What is your personal philosophy on shopping and caring for your clothes?
I try to buy less, buy higher quality and take good care of what I already own. I also look for brands that have clear sustainability commitments and that are transparent about how and where their products are made. I’ve become much more conscious of end-of-use, too. I donate or repair before I replace. As someone who works in this space, I know the data around textile waste, and I try to live in a way that doesn’t add to it.
How much do you look into a brand’s social or environmental practices before shopping?
A lot. I actively avoid fast-fashion brands that are vague about their sourcing and waste practices. On the other hand, when I see a brand that clearly outlines its ESG goals and actually reports on progress—whether that’s fair wages, responsible materials or how they handle returns—it earns my trust. I recently chose to buy from a smaller brand that offers a resale and repair program over a larger retailer with no transparency.
Anything new you are doing to boost sustainability beyond the fashion industry?
I’ve started applying the same donation and reuse mindset from LiquiDonate to other areas of my life. I’ve shifted to refillable cleaning products, and I try to source home goods secondhand when possible. I also regularly donate unused items in my home through our own platform—it’s one of the perks of building something that makes it easier to do good.
