What to do with your clothing that is end of life?
As someone who is continuously purging clothing as a mom of two growing girls, trying to figure out what to do with our castaways can be daunting. The good stuff I will re-sell on a platform like Poshmark or Kidizen. But the items that are are end of life. The ones that have deep stains that are never coming out or the pants with holes in the knees from days of hard play. I always felt guilty donating these as they are basically rags. I felt like I was passing the buck to someone else when I donated these. So I stopped. I did some research and found places near me that will take these and recycle them for me. I have put together my list of favorite places to recycle your textile waste.
I live in Massachusetts and we have curbside textile recycling through a company called Simple Recycling. They used to provide pink bags to put your items in but they now will take any bag or box you put out. Simply schedule a front door pick up and that is it! Super simple- hence the name. Your items are taken to their facility. Quality items will be resold and unusable will be processed into raw material to be used again in a different way! Check them out to see if they offer services near you!
Our girl scout troop has a bin in our local bank parking lot and they accept clothing, sheets, towels, and bedding. They take the materials to a company that pays them by the pound which raises money for the local Girl Scout troops and the donated materials get a second life by being resold or processed into raw materials. Reach out to your local troop to see if they have a program like this near you!
Fordays is a fashion brand that makes 100% recyclable fashion. Their platform is to end clothing waste. They have a program that allows you to purchase a bag for $20 which you fill up with your clothing and send it back to them to recycle it. They will apply your $20 towards your purchase of items in their online store. They are very passionate about striving to live in a circular economy and have a really cool platform
