Ideas for textile reuse for International Day of Zero Waste (March 30)

Photo by AlejoReinoso on Unsplash

The International Day of Zero Waste, observed on March 30^th annually, is jointly facilitated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). The day highlights the importance of waste reduction, sustainable materials management, and responsible consumption and production as part of sustainable development.

This year’s theme is “Towards zero waste in fashion and textiles.” In 2018, the U.S. EPA found that nearly 17 million tons of textile waste were generated nationwide, with 11.3 million of those tons going to landfills (3.2 million tons were combusted; see link to reference under “Learn more” below).

If you’re reading this blog on reuse, you’re likely the sort of person who donates clothes they no longer want or need to local charities or thrift stores, and you may well shop for clothes at thrift stores too. Those are excellent ways to extend the useful life of textiles and keep them out of landfills. But here are a few other ideas for reuse and repurposing of textiles that you could try out in the spirit of International Day of Zero Waste.

Host a clothing swap

Like thrifting, but without the buying part. Groups of friends, family, or community members come together with clothing they no longer want, and feel free to take items that other participants have brought, free of charge. This can be a nice chance for socializing, gives everyone’s wardrobe a refresh, and saves everyone money while keeping useful items out of the waste stream. See links in the “Learn more” section below for advice on planning your own.

You might even add a repair component to your event if one or more of your participants are handy with a sewing machine or needle and thread. That way, clothing in need of minor repairs (e.g. replacing buttons, patching small tears, hemming, etc.) can still be part of the exchange or can make its way back into use by the original owner.

Turn your old textiles into cleaning rags

I’m not going to pretend I don’t still use paper towels for some cleaning, especially with a cat in the house, but whenever possible, I like to use cloth rags made from old clothes or items that are simply reused as-is once they’ve outlived their original purpose. For example, my kids are young adults now, but I still use some of the baby washcloths, burp cloths, and even cloth diapers from their infancy. The absorbency of the cloth diapers make them great for cleaning up spills, and washing them in this stage of their product lifecycle is certainly a lot less of a hassle than it was when they were still swaddling baby bottoms! I also cut up pants and shirts that are too worn for donation. I honestly don’t bother to hem the edges and cut mine with normal scissors, since a little fraying around the edges of a dust rag doesn’t bother me. But if you’d like neater edges, or want to make your rags more durable, you can stitch around the cut edges, or cut your old garments down to size using pinking shears.

Make a quilt—even if you’re not crafty

I have fond childhood memories of cutting up old clothing into squares while visiting my grandmother. She was a whiz with a sewing machine, and was always repurposing her own old clothes, and those from her kids and grandkids, into useful items, including quilts (she sewed quilt tops on her standard sewing machine and took those to a professional service with a special longarm machine for the quilting itself). I still have a quilt she made me, and I gaze at the squares sometimes, imagining the dresses or blouses they once were. I wish that I had made the time to learn how to machine quilt from her, and I tell myself that when I have more spare time, I’ll try out crazy quilting by hand. If you’re skilled the way my grandma was, try your hand at making a nice blanket or throw from your unwanted textiles. If you’re more like me and either don’t have the skills, time, or both, there are services to help you out (see links below for a few examples). These services will take that stack of concert t-shirts that don’t fit you anymore, or the school shirts from your high school and college days, or other items you no longer wear but can’t let go of for sentimental reasons, and turn them into a useful blanket full of memories.

How do you repurpose textiles? Are there craft ideas you could share? Do you have favorite textile products that reduce waste, or items made from recycled fabrics? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Learn more

• https://www.unep.org/events/un-day/international-day-zero-waste-2025
• US EPA Textiles: Material Specific Information: https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data
• Southern Living: 4 Tips For Throwing A Successful Clothing Swap
• Almost Zero Waste: How To Host A Clothing Swap Party: Step-By-Step Guide
• Marissa Elena: Simple Ways To Mend Your Clothing Without A Sewing Machine
• Project Repat: https://www.projectrepat.com/. Be sure to check out the interesting origin story of this company!
• Quilts by Big Wes: https://www.bigwes.com/
• Quilt Keepsake: https://www.quiltkeepsake.com/
• Check out my recent post on the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center blog on this topic (not focused exclusively on reuse).