RE-WEAR RE-USE RECYCLE
All donated items from our clothing banks are brought to a Green World Recycling warehouse. When the clothing and shoes are collected, they become a commodity called "original" used clothing.
In order to fully commit to the environment, Green World Recycling operates according to three major principles: Re-wear, Re-use and Recycle.
The major benefits of re-wearing clothing are two-fold:
Democratizing access to quality clothing
Historically, high quality clothing has been a privilege of the wealthy. This continues today in the developed world as clothing brands use high prices to prevent working class people from purchasing their brand. In the poorer parts of the world, there may be a developed textile industry; however, the development (or, more properly, re-development after centuries of concerted European colonial actions to destroy local production) of industrial textile production in poor countries has typically been for export purposes. Production of clothing for local sale in poor countries (especially in rural areas) is usually carried out by local artisans. Such small scale results in prices that are out-of-reach for the poor.
By collecting clothing for people to re-wear, we help to break down the class barriers to quality clothing, and we help to blur class distinctions that clothing signals.
Reduction of environmental impact due to clothing production
Production of clothing is a resource intensive activity with an environmental impact. The raw materials must be cultivated or extracted, processed into fabric, turned into garments, and transported to market. Every step in the process increases environmental impact.
For example, let's look at the cultivation of the most commonly used fiber - cotton. Cotton is typically produced in large-scale mono-crop agriculture. As a result of mono-cropping practice, cotton requires large amounts of insecticides and pesticides. In fact, cotton production accounts for about 1/4 of world insecticide use. For every 1. 46 kg of cotton produced, 0.45 kg pound of agricultural chemicals are used. In recent years, farmers looking to reduce usage of agricultural chemicals have turned to transgenic cotton, which has been genetically modified to produce delta endotoxins (insecticides) and for enhanced resistance to herbicides.
Clothing that cannot be re-worn still has value. The materials can be reused in other ways.
You can reuse your old clothing at home as cleaning rags or as material to make a quilt or purse or something else.
Unusable cotton clothing that is identified at textile sorting houses is turned into cotton wiping rags for industrial use.
Zippers and buttons are removed from clothing during the textile recycling process and sold on for use in new clothing.
Some clothing that we receive cannot be re-worn or reused. There are many more industrial processes that can be called recycling of textiles.
Here are some examples of textile recycling:
Cotton clothing is shredded into a fiber form. These fibers can then be processed into insulation, under-carpet padding, and stuffing for upholstery.
Wool can be reclaimed and used to produce new garments.
Nylon can be reprocessed into nylon pellets, which are used to make new products from nylon.
Polyester can be recycled to polyester chips for use in new polyester products like clothing and electronic circuit boards.
In addition to clothing, Green World Recycling receives a few items in our donation boxes that are unusable. We want to recycle as much of this material as possible, with a goal of becoming a zero waste organization.