Textile Waste is a Mounting Problem: 6 Ways You Can Help
We Can Do Our Part to Keep Clothes Out of the Landfill
The fashion industry is worth $3 trillion globally and causes 10% of global carbon emissions. The significant environmental impacts from clothing production can make you second guess the items in your closet.
What efforts can you make to limit textile waste in landfills? Clothes can potentially sit in a landfill for over 200 years. 95% of items are reusable or recyclable. It is estimated that 39k tons of discarded clothing from all over the world ends up on the Atacama desert in Chile each year. This is just one location.
What you can do to help:
- The first step in reducing unnecessary waste of any kind is to be mindful when bringing items into your home. Ask yourself if the clothing item you’re purchasing is going to actually fit into your wardrobe. It is better to purchase coordinated items that make sense with the rest of your clothing.
- Consider buying second hand clothing. Thrift stores are full of donated clothing that can be given a second life in your wardrobe. It’s okay to treat yourself to new clothes, too.
- When buying new clothes, aim for higher quality clothing that will last. If it wouldn’t last more than 30 wash cycles, it’s probably not worth the splurge.
- Take some time to research the brands you love. Read about their efforts to reduce their environmental impact. Support brands that offer lifetime, or limited lifetime warranties on their clothing.
- Donate! Drop off unwanted clothing at local centers or utilize a curbside donation pickup service like Just Porch It in the Central Valley.
- Lastly, take better care of the items you already have. Wash clothing in cold water when you can to preserve quality. Support your local alteration shop to extend the life of your garments. All these steps can help you limit textile waste.
Learn about textile recycling at
CalRecycle.
The Caglia Environmental Pressure Cooker is a televised competition for the food and beverage industry’s most innovative new product or service. Ten finalists will pitch their product or service in front of a live audience and panel of expert judges for the chance to win cash prizes.
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Approximately 33% of all waste that goes into land-fills in the U.S. is made of paper. With all the paper our country wastes each year, we can build a 12 foot high wall of paper from New York to California! Redrock Environmental Group is actively trying to reduce paper waste rates in Madera County and you can help! One of the best ways we can do this is to provide customers with ways to divert paper from landfills. In 2015, we launched our automated curbside re-cycling program that most of our customers use to recycle paper products. However, there are other ways to keep paper out of the landfill. This involves avoiding paper use all together and re-purposing the paper we do use. Try these tips to reduce your paper waste and carbon footprint: Change your bills to “paperless” and pay them online or by phone Re-use one-sided paper for notes, sketches, etc If you need to buy paper, buy recycled when you can. Read newspapers and magazines online. Think before you print. Do you really need it? Only print the pages you need in a document Choose reusable plates Use a white board for lists, notes and announcements Buy bulk foods Unsubscribe from junk mail at dmachoice.org Send out electronic greeting cards instead of paper Visit calrecycle.ca.gov for more ways to reduce paper waste.
With two big contributions from long-established local businesses, the Granville Homes Creek Fire Relief Fund eclipsed its $50,000 goal for the American Red Cross of Central California in just two days.