The International Day of Zero Waste, observed on
March 30th 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
