Textile Recycling: The Fun and Easy Way to Give Back this Earth Day!
Ready for a fun and easy way to give back this Earth Day? You can make a difference by simply reusing and recycling your unwanted textiles! Maybe you still have your barely-worn prom dress hanging up in your closet that could get a second life with a teen going to their high school dance, or a pile of socks with no pairs that could be made into pillow stuffing, or just a bunch of old towels that could become your go-to cleaning tools.
According to the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Associaton (SMART), a global organization of companies involved in the reuse and recycling of textiles and related secondary materials, 95 percent of textiles (any fabric made of interlacing fibers) can be reused and recycled: old clothing, curtains, bath towels, bedsheets, pillowcases, table linens, shoes, stuffed animals, scarves, pet beds, the list goes on! As long as the textile is clean, odor-free, and dry, it can be given a second life, even if it has a ketchup stain!
So, how does reusing and recycling your textiles even make a difference? Clothing and household textiles currently make up 6.3 percent of the waste annually in the U.S. That’s 81 pounds per person! By reusing and recycling your textiles, you are doing the planet a favor and saving the environment from polluting chemicals and more. Here at Star Wipers, we use recycled textiles like clothes and towels to our advantage by turning them into garment rags for distributors and companies nationwide!
In case you are tired of seeing that one shirt you never wear in your closet or no longer want to keep those jeans that you loved once but are now out of style, you can donate them to your favorite local charity, thrift store, or clothing collection box. When ready for a sustainable wardrobe refresh, shop secondhand at places like Goodwill or Salvation Army to help reduce the need for new clothing production and divert items from landfills.
There are many ways you can give back to Mother Earth, and reducing your textile waste is a good place to start! Let’s all do our part to create a cleaner, greener future for ourselves and future generations.
Learn more about the SMART organization by visiting their website.