Eco Fashion Week -- Recycled Clothing

With hundreds of new designs hitting runways in New York City this week, you can give your style a fashionably green flair with these tips--no catwalk required.

Tip #2: Trim your waste

An average American throws away 68 pounds of clothing and textiles every year, according to the Council for Textile Recycling. Local second-hand shops, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army make it easy to keep your share out of landfills--so why the waste? If you think an item is too worn to warrant donation, think again: A professor of textile and apparel management at the University of Missouri-Columbia tells E Magazine that even scraps can find new life in products ranging from paper to blankets and fencing. If you would rather give your beloved but outgrown items directly to a new wearer, try listing giveaways on a site like freecycle.org, which can help you connect with people in your city who will make use of your fashion finds.

Share your tips: How do you trim your clothing waste? What do you do with unwanted clothes?

Comments

[Yvonne]

With two growing kids we wind up with a lot of unwanted out grown but still in great condition clothes. All of the kids clothes I donate to a sweet ole' lady on my street who sends all of the clothes to a Ukrainian orphanage. Most of my unwanted clothes I give to a second hand shop or salvation army.

[Karen]

It sounds good that clothes too worn for donation can find a home in paper, etc but I have no clue where to donate such things. Certainly local thrift shops don't want them.

[Whitney]

I'm very fond of the organization Dress for Success. They take gently worn business wear, dress shoes, accessories, etc. and distribute them to women who could not afford a new suit for that important job interview or new professional career.

[Kim L]

There are organizations, like Project Linus, that use fabric scraps along with new fabric to make quilts for newborns & sick children. Visit their web site - www.projectlinus.org to find a local chapter. Sewing & fabric stores may also know about organizations like this. Ask at the cutting counter!

[ccsoleil]

What's still in decent shape, I give to Goodwill or drop into one of those church containers. Old, damaged socks and underwear I use for cleaning my shoes. Old scarves and shawls I sew together into a bedspread or blanket.
If it is something I knitted myself, I use the yarn again if possible. Same goes for clothing that is not suited for the Goodwill: I use the still intact fabric for other projects like making bags.
Old hiking boots I use for gardening.

[Pamela]

Once a year my friends and I take all our "things needing a new home" and have a huge yard sale--all proceeds go to the local Children's Hospital. We put the prices extremely low--things get a home and sick children get the benefit. All left-overs are donated to the DAV and we haven't wasted anything--this past year we started with two huge garage fulls and ended up with one small car load at the end.

[reason17]

How do we find out where to donate fabric that is no longer usable clothing?

[Maureen Murphy]

I went to the freecycle link and registered to be part of the group. But once I got that done, I could not figure out how to become connected w/the postings... very frustrating and convoluted.

[Juliet Jones]

One consideration: I understand that even thrift shops now have more clothes than they can sell, and so they export the leftovers to third world countries, in Latin America or Africa. The availability of cheap T-shirts, etc, is affecting the local textile industry. Therefore, i try to reduce the amount of new clothing I acquire, knowing it will end up at a thrift shop. One way of doing this is to reject any free T-shirts offered, such as those offered when one takes part in a 5K, or when one joins an organization, etc.

[marianne]

my girlfriends and i throw a huge clothes swap every fall so everyone gets to update their wardrobes for free. anything left over goes to Dress for Success. of course this is just for still wearable clothing. as for torn and stained clothing, i use those as rags.

[roxiepie]

to maureen murphy:please don't give up on freecycle. try sending an email to the local person in charge of the postings. or ask someone you know to walk you through the site. it's a very worth-while organization.

[Paige]

There are also great local organizations like The Career Wardrobe in Philadelphia which accept used work-appropriate clothing for women re-entering the workplace.

[Gloria]

I love Freecycle! I have given stuff I didn't need(decluttered) & gotten a few things. I also give to the Vietnam Veterans Of America who has a thrift store sell their donations. They will send out a card telling when they will be in your neighborhood & you just put the stuff out at the curb with their card. You don't have to even be home. Saves me time & gas & helps out our vets.

[silvrii]

I donate all clothing I no longer wear to our local Rescue Mission. That is where I buy the majority of my clothes and my two grandchildrens clothing. Great deals and children out grow most clothing before wearing them out, so I haven't wasted money. Also use the fabric to make purses and bags from torn or stained clothes, called Rags to Bags.

You can redesign some jeans into skirts , cut sleeves off old shirts and make gift bags. Just use the cuff end as the "Shirt collar" and add ribbon as a tie, to close over a bottle of homemade vinegar or bath oils, even wines.

[Heather]

If you donate old worn clothing to the salvation army, my understanding is that they will send it to a place to recycle it if it is unusable. I read this in the newspaper.

[Lerin]

I try to avoid buying new clothing as much as possible by shopping in thrift stores and garage sales. I also try to buy clothing that are basic pieces as opposed to things that are fashionably dated or one of those outfits that is a one time wear kinda deal. Also, I've been the same size (except when pregnant) for the past 10 yrs, so alot of the clothes I have are ones that I've had forever- they may not fit like they once did, but they still fit and aren't falling apart, so I wear them. My sister and I also 'borrow' each other's clothes for extended amounts of time.
Old socks and underwear and my husband's old undershirts get used as cleaning rags (the shirts are great for glass - they leave no lint!)
My neighborhood does alot of 'passing around'. If anyone aquires something that they can't or won't wear, they pass it to someone who they think might and so on.
As far as kids clothes go- my mom (she's the garage sale queen), my sister (she buys new) and me- Goodwill fanatic, buy clothes for my niece. When she outgrows, they go to my cousin. When my cousin outgrows them, and whatever her mom has aquired, she gives them all to me. Because it's more than my daughter can wear at that point, I pass on what I know we won't wear to my best friend who has 2 little girls.
Clothes that aren't in decent enough shape to be re-sold I give to a friend who makes handbags for a living.

[brett]

I'm also looking for a place to donate worn clothing, I already have plenty of rags so I really just want to donate undershirts that are too worn but may be good for reusing/recycling. Apparently Project Linus (listed above) only takes "new clothing"

from their site - Contact the local or closest chapter to see if they have a need for these materials. Most chapter coordinators are very grateful for them, and can put them to good use. Materials must be new, unused and free of contaminants such as mold, mildew and smoke. They should be cotton or cotton/poly blends. Knits, double knits, wool, and some other materials are not acceptable. Contact the local chapter coordinator for more information.

[Daphne Huffman]

I buy tropical shirts for $2 to $40 each at the local thrift store. Better than paying $20 each. I also buy shorts for about the same price.

[farmergirl]

I hate throwing out sweaters, so I reuse them by felting them in hot water in the washer or a big sink. This shrinks them--as you know if you've ever accidentally thrown a sweater into the wash--and makes the fabric thicker and heavier. After they're felted, I cut them into squares and sew them together into a blanket to use when the house is chilly.
Making a full blanket takes awhile, but I felt a few sweaters at a time and store the squares in a bin until I have enough. And the nice thing is that the blanket is made of sweaters and colors I liked enough to make or buy in the first place.

[Karen Miskimen]

My friends and I save up all the clothes we'd be giving to 2nd-hand shops and bring them all together about 4 times a year. We make a big pile of the clothes, grab some, look them over and send on the ones that we don't want clockwise. It's a great way to get free "new" clothes, get rid of the ones we don't want and have a blast with our friends. The leftover clothes we take to St. Vincent De Paul. Fun fun!

[fashion]

Nice article. Let me introduce you to the online fashion magazine that I run. Its called Fashionora.com. Would you be interested to visit and leave your valuable comments

[Lydia Krupinski]

I take friends, family, and my own unwanted clothing and reconstruct it into new fashions and sell it on my website Pierogi Picnic.

There's tons of designers who are foregoing new fabrics in place of old unwanted fibers that are simply thrown away or donated to thrift stores. Etsy is a great place to find alot of designers who recycled old materials. There's also tons of boutiques in Williamsburg that sell this genre of clothing.

[Liz Courtney]

I have just started buying recycled clothes from an online site www.thewardrobestore.com. They have a good range for women, sorry guys not great for you! I think we should all be looking at clearing out and selling the things we are not wearing and buying preloved or recycled clothes to create GREEN Wardrobes!

[reese]

Please go to etsy.com and look at my clothing. My company is based recycling clothing for saving the environment and helping people who need clothes by transferring them to those in need and by monetary donations. I do custom orders too!

[Alice Mosley]

Maureen Murphy wrote: "I went to the freecycle link and registered to be part of the group. But once I got that done, I could not figure out how to become connected w/the postings... very frustrating and convoluted."

We, too, have used Freecycle when we moved house, and it is very good. However, it IS hard to get started with it. Do follow the advice given by roxiepie. However, perhaps someone can advise Freecycle on how to make it less complicated? I have recently tried to go on to the site again, and it eluded me once again.