Yesterday morning I attended a Sustainability Breakfast Series on Textile Waste put on by Metro Vancouver. Here’s what I learned!
25% of what you donate to thrift stores actually gets sold. So… where does the remaining 75% go?
It gets purchased by a sorter grader! Donation bins and thrift stores are the gateways to sorter graders. The sorter graders take all our excess textiles and either:
- Re-use by sorting into over 360 different categories and re-sell to markets (often overseas)
- Recycle fibre by exported textiles to be broken down and turned into new materials to give them a new life
- Make wiping cloths from damaged textiles for painters
Did you know that…
- It’s actually ok to donate used pillows, stained and hole-y clothes, and single shoes? Items like single shoes can be paired with similar ones and sold!
- There is a market for down? So, donate your old winter jackets if you don’t need them anymore!
- Thrift stores often don’t have space to keep out of season clothes? These garments may go straight to the sorter graders!
Some thoughts to leave you with:
- REPAIR your clothes to extend their life instead of abandoning them as soon as they get hole-y.
- Frameworq Education Society organizes monthly community textile fix-it workshops in Vancouver – learn basic mending and sewing skills to keep your old and tattered clothes out of the landfill!
- Frameworq Education Society organizes monthly community textile fix-it workshops in Vancouver – learn basic mending and sewing skills to keep your old and tattered clothes out of the landfill!
- REHOME and extend an item’s lifespan
- Swap
- Share with friends
- Consign or sell it
- Donate them to organizations like The Salvation Army Thrift Stores and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver who can channel your old clothes to someone who needs it!
- ASK and question what you consume.
- Who was exploited so that your t-shirt could cost $10?
- When the Canucks lost in the Stanley Cup finals what happened to all the celebratory apparel that was made and never sold?
- What happens to all the fast fashion clothing that are mass produced but never sold?
- ENGAGE with local individuals and groups who are contributing to the solution:
If you know of any other organizations or individuals that are playing a part in the war against textile waste, comment them in the section below! 👇🏼
Share this post with your friends, family and community, and start a conversation with someone about your textile consumption (and waste). What else can we do? 🗣🌎🌿
Common Energy UBC 