Fabrics and recycling

[lendube]

This was in today's Science section of the paper. I found it interesting and I remember a post not too long ago regarding the subject. By all means, donate those old fabrics and of course all of your furs, ladies!!! (Actually my Mom has some old fur that she's had since the dark ages and thankfully hasn't worn since either. I can't wait (!) to get my hands on it to get rid of it. Glad to see an option here for that too.)



Questions answered

By Sherry Seethaler
June 19, 2008

QUESTION: How do we go about recycling old sheets, clothing and towels? I cannot get myself to throw them in the landfill, and I have enough rags to last the rest of my life.

– Rich Kelly, Carlsbad

ANSWER: Americans discard 68 pounds of textiles per person each year, which adds up to 4 percent of municipal solid waste. As globalization has made it possible to produce clothing at increasingly lower prices, this figure has risen, with implications that go beyond disposal. For example, a quarter of pesticides used in the U.S. are applied to cotton crops.



Fortunately, recycling of textiles is on the rise. Recyclers separate used clothing into categories according to type, size and fiber content. More than half of the recycled clothes are turned into rags and absorbent pads for industrial spills or recycled into fiber. Polyester is processed using heat, and cotton is garnetted – a mechanical process that turns it back into fiber. The fibers are used to make paper, stuffing for furniture or insulation.
The remaining clothing is exported. The Salvation Army estimates that when clothing is disposed of, it has 70 percent of its useful life left. Japan is the largest buyer of high-end American fashion. Cheaper clothing is packaged into 100-pound bales and shipped to developing nations. Small entrepreneurs buy the bales and sell the clothing at markets.

Reuse or recycling of textiles results in considerable energy savings. For every pound of virgin cotton displaced by secondhand clothing, 30 kilowatt-hours is saved, and for every pound of polyester, 40kwh is saved, when resource extraction, manufacturing, collection, distribution and waste disposal are taken into account.

Textile recyclers do not usually obtain clothes directly from consumers. Instead, castoffs can be donated to charitable organizations, such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul. Items they cannot use or sell in thrift shops are sold to textile recyclers for a few cents per pound. Other potential uses for old sheets and other fabrics include packaging materials, crafts or dropcloths for painting.

Items made from fur can be recycled into new animals (well, kind of) through the Coats for Cubs program run by the Humane Society of the United States. The organization distributes the furs to more than 200 wildlife rehabilitators across North America. Rehabilitators report that fur “surrogate mothers” reduce stress in their injured and orphaned wildlife patients. Information: hsus.org/furdonation.



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Sherry Seethaler is a UCSD science writer and educator. Send scientific questions to her at Quest, The San Diego Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112-0191. Or e-mail sseethaler@ucsd.edu. Please include your name, city of residence and phone number.

[kaitlinnegan]

I must be a bit emotional today - the part about "surrogate mothers" made from recycled furs brought a tear to my eye. Neat article!

[Mom of Six]

I just e mailed my City recycling agency to see if they were having a textile recycling day this year. If not I will try our local mission store to see if they will take the unusable clothes like DD's ripped in the crotch jeans & all my scraps That are too small to save. I hate to send them if they can't sell them for scrap. If They do take them I will make sure they are i a seperate box marked unsellable. Also my MIL has never thrown out any clothes so I can pass the info on for when she is gone & the house, Barn, & 3 sheds need cleaning out.
There were 2 fur coats in my Dad's basement closet when we cleaned his house. I posted a copy of this message on our family site in case anyone still has them & needs a place to get rid of them. I think my SIL might have taken them to use as costumes at their church. They do lots of plays.

[pucktricks]

That's useful to know as I'm cleaning my sewing room out, and our closets in general. Most of the stuff I'm donating to Goodwill is usable, but it's helpful to know about them being able to sell unusable scraps for money to be recycled. All right, off to make lunch for kids.

Ticia

[Magot]

We have textile recycling points at most town 'dumps' and large supermarkets - everyone calls them 'the dump' but they are officially household waste recycling plants. We recycle all plastic, tins, card, paper and compost garden waste through the rubbish collection( at the house) and glass textile, metal , wood washing machines and electricals go to the dump where they do their best to sort and reuse.