Moms across America could help save up to 70lbs of waste for each person in their household through recycling more clothes, according to reports in the Times Free Press which highlight the success of clothes recycling programs amongst students and local communities nationwide.
Some 11.1 million tons of clothing are consigned to landfill sites nationwide each year, contributing to environmental pollution and CO2 emissions, whether the waste is buried or incinerated. But by reusing clothes, it is possible to save on the scale of this waste and reduce the environmental impact.
By recycling more old clothes in the home, the average family could save up to 280lbs of landfill waste every year. But it’s not just the environment that benefits from clothes recycling.
The One Shirt Challenge, sponsored by Planet Aid and green clothing manufacturer SustainU, has been encouraging students across university campuses to donate their clothing for charitable redistribution or resale. The campaign is already proving successful across campuses, including the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where students have spoken positively of the drive for more textile recycling.
One UTC student, Erik Hearn, says the on-campus measures have made him more conscious of the number of tons of waste created by discarded clothing. “It is a pretty astonishing number, especially since there are so many individuals who would use those clothes. I now recycle at my apartment, on campus as well as at home.”
Prize-winning writer Daniel Yergin, author of several key titles on the environment and energy security, said that small measures like this could make a substantial difference to environmental outcomes over time.
“Recycling even half of the clothing discarded as trash in the US over the next decade could save some 55 million tons of waste from landfill. Recycled clothes help charities raise vital funds through resale, but can also make a tangible difference to emissions from incineration and pollution from landfill waste. More campaigns of this sort are needed to tackle the environmental challenges we will face in the near future.”
America produces around 250m tons of trash annually, much of which is sent to landfill or incineration under present waste management methods. This contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as polluting the environment. It also looks and smells terrible, with untold social costs for the communities it affects and a strong negative effect on proximate real estate values.
At the same time, charities in particular can benefit from the recycling of clothes, either through resale or repurposing the garments they receive. Used clothing allows for affordable textiles that can help those in need, while allowing charities to raise funds through reselling. Our school is doing a used clothing for cash drive right now. It is a great way of fundraising for the school and clearing out our closets and keeping things out of the landfill.
The One Shirt Challenge program ran during Earth Week in April, as part of a series of events designed to highlight the human impact on the environment. Aimed at schools, colleges and universities, the program strives to reduce the overall waste profile of individuals through minimizing the amount of non-recycled used clothing being thrown away.
The US throws away almost 21bn pounds of clothing annually, accounting for millions of gallons of water in the cotton growing process and many more gallons of gasoline for polyester-based clothing.
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