Fashion is fickle, which leaves plenty of barely used clothing shoved in the back of everyone’ closet collecting dust.
In September, New York City will launch one of the biggest textile recycling initiatives in the nation, to make donating those barely used clothes easier than ever to eliminate landfill waste.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), each American throws away almost 10 pounds of clothing and bedding a year. In 2008, 190,000 tons of textiles were dumped in New York City’s landfills.
The recycling initiative would put 50 donation collection bins in high-traffic areas around the city, where people can easily deposit their unwanted clothing.
“I moved three times in the last five years, and each time I ended up throwing away clothes,” says 25-year-old Tracy Feldman. “It is just too hard to haul it all over the city. If there was a bin on my block, I wouldn’t hesitate to recycle them.”
New York is currently taking bids from nonprofit companies, including Goodwill Industries International, for a 10- to 15-year contract with a nonprofit company that will be responsible for maintaining the bins.
“There has not been another program like this that we know of,” said Goodwill spokesman Alfred Vanderbilt. “We think they are being very creative and we hope this sets a new standard.”
Officials say that if New York’s campaign is successful, it could cause a nationwide movement to recycle used clothing, which would not only create room in landfills, it could create much needed jobs.
