Textile Recycling

I just found out I can donate clothing, shoes, linens, and bags — in any condition — to Helpsy, a B Corp founded in 2017 with dropoff locations across the northeast United States, including one four miles away. I’ve been collecting used textile scraps for a couple of years as I try to figure out how to keep them out of the trash. 

Pre-covid, I could have biked there to make the donation. Now though, I’ll make a drop when I’m driving that way anyway.

Since 1960, there’s been an explosion in the amount of textiles produced globally — and in the amount that goes into landfills in the United States — as tracked by the EPA. Americans today buy more than 100 pounds of clothing a year, and the vast majority of that goes into landfills.

Here at Casa Criatura, we try not to throw stuff away. It starts with thinking hard before we buy things. We need clothing, of course, and we aim for items that are well made and not trendy. We use mesh wash bags to protect more delicate items and wash in cold water. 

But we make purchasing mistakes, especially when shopping online for used clothing, and sizes and shapes change with the years, and we end up with clothing we can’t use any more.

There are many good options for keeping lightly worn, good quality clothes out of landfills. We’ve sent clothing to ThredUp, donated it to clothing drives for young professionals, or dropped it off at Goodwill. We’ve sent bras that no longer fit (hellooo menopause) to I Support the Girls.

The local ASPCA can use all the worn towels and blankets we can donate. Old T shirts and kitchen towels make great rags, which we use instead of paper towels, and just keep rewashing and reusing. 

But jeans don’t make good rags, socks get holes, and even Sheertex tights wear out eventually. Some towns and cities in New Jersey collect textiles for recycling in publicly located bins, and I’d been thinking about bringing along a bag of textiles for the next time I’m near Hoboken or Clifton. Non-ideal.

I’ve had my eye on For Days, which charges $20 to take your clothing and then gives you back “Closet Cash” you can use to shop affiliated retailers. But I’ve never gotten it together to commit to their take-back bag.

So I’m probably more excited than I should be to know that I’ll be able to take my bag of rags and drop it off just a few miles away without paying to have it shipped.