Most of us know that clothes and fabrics can be recycled, but while we were out cleaning your bins it got us thinking, how do you recycle them, and what happens to them once you’ve made that decision?
The obvious place to start is your local charity shop who always welcome clean clothes and bedding in good condition. Really it’s a win, win situation, the charity makes money for their cause, people are able to buy good quality clothes for less, and you know that the clothes you no longer want are having a new life elsewhere and doing some good into the bargain.
Did you know that 336,000 tonnes of unwanted clothes and fabrics are thrown away in the UK every year? And this is so unnecessary. If you can’t make it to the charity shop for whatever reason, plenty of charities like the British Heart Foundation offer collections from your home, all you need to do is bag up the items.
If there isn’t a charity shop near you or a BHF in the area, some shops such as Marks and Spencer and Primark now offer recycling bins in store. Many supermarkets have fabric recycling bins in their carparks. All of which makes it easier for every one of us to recycle.
Clothes and bedding that aren’t suitable to be worn or used again can be recycled into items such as padding for car seats and chairs, cleaning cloths, and industrial blankets. Nothing needs to go to waste.
But if you’re not ready to go out and buy new yet and just want to refresh what you have ‘Loving Your Clothes’ has plenty of ideas about how to buy well in the first place and then once purchased how to look after your clothes to make them last, and even how to mend or update them so that they don’t end up being thrown away or even recycled too soon. You can check out all their ideas here. Love Your Clothes |
Here at Freshbinz Ltd, we hope that has given you some food for thought. We’ll certainly be thinking about it while we’re out cleaning your bins, and maybe checking out our wardrobes this weekend.