The Importance of Clothing Recycling

Clothing recycling is more than just turning an old T-shirt into a crop top. For many, your recycled clothes are their only clothes.

Dr. Celia Stall-Meadows, Campus Director of Community Care College and Author of Know Your Fashion Accessories, Fashion Now: A Global Perspective and Why Would Anyone Wear That? Fascinating Fashion Facts shares why clothing recycling is fun and needed.  

Anything Can Be Recycled

Wait. Even a holey pair of socks? Yes. Instead of throwing out your unwanted clothing, donate it. Others that are in need of socks will be grateful to have them, they won’t care if they have holes.

Bend Over Boutiques

Many Third World Countries have what they call Bend Over Boutiques. They will lay all donated clothing items on pallets on the floor, where people will come and look through the items, gathering what they need.

“It doesn’t matter that the shoes don’t match. The fact that there are two shoes – a left and a right – is really what’s important.”

When to Donate your Clothing

Instead of waiting for a National Disaster to donate your clothing, donate periodically. Many donation centers receive a multitude of donations during national disasters (which is great), but with an influx of donations, they may not have time to sort through everything thoroughly, which can lead to waste.

Once you have collected your items for donation, do a quick search for donation companies to donate your clothing.

Here are a few local places for our fellow Tulsans:

• Dress for Success Tulsa
• Goodwill
• Family and Children Services
• Salvation Army

So the next time you’re going through your closet, remember your unwanted items are wanted somewhere!