Billionaires are thrifters too!

The Thrifting Divas at work were chatting about their thrifting FINDS, and Ms. Bay Area exclaimed, "You can see billionaires in San Francisco trying on clothes in the aisles at thrift stores.  Saving all those clothes from the landfill is eco friendly."  Makes sense.  WOW another reason people thrift, as a green statement.

A quick Internet search for "clothing in landfills" turns up some amazing statistics.  One source claimed 93% of textiles diverted to recycling instead of landfills  can be successfully reclaimed. Other sites claimed that 66% to 85% of textile waste go directly to landfills without getting the chance to be reused or recycled. LA County estimates that 10% of the trash in their landfills is remnant fabric and clothing. Other sources place textile waste in America at 5% to 7% of all landfills. 

Other sites state that fabrics can typically take hundreds of years to break down in landfills.

Save the planet--go thrifting!

But what happens to the stuff that can't be sold to be reused or is too damaged to be repurposed?  Roseann Schmidt, Thriftique VP, announced at the volunteer meeting that all of those items are sold to what our Grandparents called "rag men."  We call them recyclers.  They take reusable clothing that does not sell in the US and ship it to developing countries.  The damaged textiles that are not usable anywhere are recycled into products such as shop rags, auto insulation, blankets, and underlay for carpets. 

After that meeting, I started another donation pile.  I took the frayed turtleneck that I did not think could be resold out of my bedroom wastebasket.  Just think, our ratty old underwear (clean please), old dog's blankets, fabric remnants and all of the other clothing and textiles that are way beyond "gently used," can be recycled.  Drop them off in a separate bag marked rags when you drop off your other donations.