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What do you do with your old clothes? The conventional answer is to toss into a landfill, where the average American throws out 81 pounds of clothing yearly. Yet, for those of us seeking a more closed loop and sustainable mode of disposing of our clothes, the answer is an assortment of options to ensure that clothing gets a second life. You can rent, donate, sell, or swap. Yet, while each option allows you to prolong the life of your clothing, the end is always the same. Eventually, those donated and thrifted clothes will end in the landfill. So, where do you send old clothes when you’re looking for a solution where clothing won’t eventually become landfill waste. One surprising answer is to send your old clothes to a clothing brand who will recycle the clothing for you.
For Days is a an organic basics brand that uses recycled and GOTS-certified organic cotton for their assortment of basics like tees, rompers and all the other items that you wear on repeat in your closet. Best of all, the brand has a unique Take Back program that allows you to easily pack and ship the unwanted items from your closet. They’ll take back your old clothes (from any brand, in any condition) where they will recycle them for you. And, depending on how many you stuff into their bags (sizes are small, medium and large) you’ll receive a $$ credit that can be used on any of the organic basics on the site.
Why Is Clothing So Hard To Be Recycled?
It’s estimated that we throw out 85% of all textiles produced into landfills yearly in the U.S. When an industry like fashion is responsible for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions and 20% of water pollution worldwide that’s not only a massive toll on our environment, but also a massive waste of resources. For the estimated 56 million tons of clothing that is purchased yearly, an estimated 12% is recycled. That’s a big change from materials like paper which has a 66% recycling rate or glass which is at 27%. So, what is it about clothing that is so hard to recycle?
One answer is that fabrics are complex. A 100% cotton shirt isn’t necessarily 100% cotton. It can be sewn together with polyester thread and have a polyester label attached. Then, there are the chemicals from dyes and any additional details like buttons or zippers that are made from other materials like plastic or metals. This assortment of materials make clothing difficult to sort and recycle.
Another reason that recycling clothing is so difficult is that the quality of clothing from the fast fashion brands that dominate the retail market is so low that it’s difficult for these pieces to be made into something new. The fabric fibers are too short to be spun into new fabrics that are strong enough to be made into clothing. There are some technologies that exist to regenerate cotton or nylon into new materials fit for clothing. But, the majority of old clothing can only be ‘downcycled’ into materials like carpet insulation or mattress filling.
How Does For Days Recycle Your Clothing?
For Days offers an incentive program that allows you to turn in your old clothing in exchange for site credit. What’s convenient is that you don’t have to wait on a commission or take photos and sell the items yourself. You simple order a Take Bag, stuff your clothes, ship and have a credit towards basics like bras, tees and comfy sweats. Customers can rest assured that their old items will be recycled and not tossed into a landfill. For Days sorts and sends the items to post-consumer mechanical recyclers who will turn your old garments into new yarn or materials.