Recycling your old clothes is an important step towards sustainability, read on for how you can responsibly recycle your old clothes. While you may be used to recycling plastic and paper, did you know that 95% of clothing, shoes, and other textiles are recyclable?
If you didn’t know, you’re not alone, while almost all textiles can be recycled, 85% of them end up in the trash. These pieces of clothing add to America’s 15+ million tons of textile waste every single year.
Remove yourself from the waste cycle by recycling your old and unwanted clothing through following the recycling tips outlined below.
Where to Resell Clothes
Recycling doesn’t just have to be about helping people and the planet, it can also be about making a profit. Go green, and make some green through selling your old clothing to second-hand clothing stores and websites.
Some of the best include:
- thredUP
- Buffalo Exchange
- Etsy
- eBay
- Poshmark
- Your Local Thrift Store
- Tradesy
- The Real Real
- Facebook Marketplace
Where to Donate Clothes
If reselling seems like too much work to you, and you’d rather donate your clothes to a good cause, there are plenty of places you can donate your garments.
While donated clothes can meet lower standards than resold clothes, that doesn’t mean you should just dump all your unwanted items in a clothing donation bin. Do NOT treat it like a trash can. Nobody wants your holey socks and the stained T-shirts you’ve had for ten years.
Some great places to donate are:
- Homeless Shelters
- Community Centers
- Salvation Army
- Goodwill
- Local Clothing Drives
What Happens to Donated Clothing
While it’s nice to imagine that the clothes we donate go directly to people in need, that’s not always the case.
Some donation centers, like the recycling bins in malls or fashion brand take-back programs, will actually sell clothing that is donated despite trying to perpetuate the image that the clothing will be handed out free of charge to those who need it.
This approach does reduce clothing waste, but can lead to other problems, especially if the clothing is sent to third world countries, which it often is. People there are less-than-grateful to receive our old, stained T-shirts and to have their struggling textile industries further smothered by the cheap clothing we dump on them.
Where to Recycle OLD Clothes
Because recycling clothes into new clothing can be costly and difficult, only 1% of clothing is recycled to make new clothing.
Companies who “recycle old clothing” rarely repurpose clothing into new garments, but rather turn it into products like carpet padding, home insulation, pillow stuffing, car seat stuffing, painter’s clothing, and new fabric.
“only 1% of clothing is recycled to make new clothing”
Below are some sustainable brands who actually recycle clothing:
- Terracycle Fabrics
- Council for Textile Recycling
- GemText
- The Bra Recycler
- Soles 4 Souls
- Donation Twon
- Patagonia
- The North face
- Green Tree
- Wearable Collections
What to Do If Your Clothes Can’t Be Recycled
If you can’t find a place to recycle your old clothing then consider starting an upcycling project yourself. Old T-shirts can be turned into pillows and quilts, jeans can be painted, stitched, and bedazzled, socks can become cleaning rags, and so on.
You don’t have to rely on a company to repurpose your clothes, you are more than capable of turning your unwanted, unworn clothing into something useful!
The Bottom Line
Be a conscious consumer. Buy clothing you know you’ll wear many, many times from sustainable brands that do not contribute to fast fashion. The most effective way to eliminate textile waste from your life is by reducing how much you consume. Read our article on slow fashion to learn how to shop sustainably.
Onelessmade is committed to reducing textile waste by upcycling salvaged clothing into quality garments you’ll wear and love for a long time. Check our brand out for some sustainable finds that defy fast fashion!