Recycling. Ugh. Very few people know how to do it right. That's because every municipality is different...it gets complicated.
For instance, in my neck of the woods we have a transfer station. There you can recycle #1 and #2 plastics, cardboard, paper, newspaper (and the paper and newspaper are NOT the same thing and must be separated), tins cans, aluminum and you pay a small fee to drop off electronics and appliances.
In some places you can't recycle any cardboard, plastic or tin that has food on it.
Now what about all those hard to recycle items?
Let me count the ways...
Textiles: 92 Million Tons of Textile Waste is Produced Every Year
Textiles are very difficult to recycle because a lot of clothing is made out of multiple materials. When products are made of multiple materials, they become much more difficult to deal with.
There are multiple problems in the textile industry and I write about all the problems with textiles in another blog you can read here.
In an effort to find 'end of life' solutions to textiles, taking charge of the origin and manufacturing will allow more control over the outcome and is currently being explored in states such as Colorado and California.
One of the biggest challenges with manufacturing textiles is the dyeing process. Dyeing materials can be a large and toxic undertaking. There are several stages of dyeing in textiles:
- Fiber dyeing (also called stock dyeing)
- Yarn dyeing
- Fabric dyeing
- Garment dyeing
The considerations that govern the choice of the dyeing stage are mainly technical and economical.
The dyeing process complicates textile manufacturing in US.
But you do have options when it comes to discarding your old and worn out clothes...
Obviously if the clothes are still functional, donate them!
If you are just cleaning out your closet and the clothes are in good shape, sell them at https://www.thredup.com/about
To recycle your textiles responsibly, you can purchase a Retold Bag for $15.50
There is also the "Take Back Bag" by Trashie, those are $20 but you earn rewards for discounts on top brands!
TerraCycle has some free textile recycling programs, however they are brand specific.
TerraCycle can recycle just about anything! Their free programs are brand specific, but if you can get a few people to get together you can fill those boxes in no time!
Ridwell Also Recycles Hard to Recycle Items such as batteries, multi-layered plastic bags, textiles, paint and more! They offer mail-in bags with prepaid, net-zero shipping.
Have some sneakers to get rid of? Use Got Sneakers! This is a FREE program that will recycle your sneakers, if your sneakers can not be reused, however, there is a $3 transaction fee.
Do you have some worn out silicon? Get rewarded and recycle right with GoSili!
Need to Get Rid of Electronics? Save the fee at your local facility and recycle with Go Nimble!
Click on the picture below to get started!
If you are looking for ways to reduce your plastic consumption (especially for reasons I've outlined in my blog post), please check out I'm Plastic Free where you'll also find free resources on how to reduce your microplastic intake.
