Recycled Clothing
Is Recycled Clothing Among the Fastest Growing Trends Of 2021?
Continually evolving, recycled fabric contributes to a significant portion of the textiles used in clothing today. As far as history is concerned, a few decades ago, this would have been unheard of. The recycled clothing industry emerged during the Napoleonic wars of the 18th century. Due to a shortage in virgin wool, it became necessary to garnet wool fibres into new yarns. Today recycling in the textile industry is used to extract new fibre from domestic waste and turn back pre and post-consumer waste to fibre. The surge in demand for recycled clothing – owed no doubt to increasing environmental awareness – has helped to spur this trend.
The excessiveness of western consumption has heaped an incredible burden on our environment. A surplusage of clothes that far exceeds the demand has caused piles of waste, reduced clean water supply, splurging a repelling amount of chemicals into our planet’s waters. As a result, recycled clothing has become the solution.
Recycled Clothing Banks
Charitable organisations have always used clothing banks to send across used clothes to less privileged countries and continents. Today, recycled clothing banks have taken more than just a charitable crusade, driving home the need to safeguard the environment and reduce textile waste.
Recycling clothing banks are a means of ensuring that your clothes do not end up as a toxic, non-biodegradable burden for our planet. There are numerous recycling clothing banks spread across key towns and cities in Ireland. Locate one near you to dispose of your used clothing.
Benefits of Recycling Clothing Banks
Recycling clothing banks provide you with a source of additional income while doing a service to the world. Some clothes recycling banks pay as much as 300 Euros for every tonne of used clothing received. These schemes are open to institutions and individuals and can serve as a collective effort at environmental sustainability.
It is always advisable to use clothing banks that provide a transparent outline of where and how the clothes received their use. This disclosure is mandatory to ensure that the purpose of such a donation is not defeated. While some organisations ship the clothes overseas, a significant amount stays in Ireland. Clothing is sorted into various categories and graded. The process for degradable material is relatively straightforward; the material is turned into sloppy fibres before being mixed with other fibres. Non-biodegradable textile is a lot more complex, and further research is still needed to provide more sustainable solutions. For now, recycling companies have the option of turning these into other substances such as polymer or powder.
Recycled Clothing: The Future
The United Kingdom and Ireland have performed poorly compared to the rest of Europe for recycled clothing. Over 90% of textile waste end up in UK landfills. In comparison Germany, Denmark and Switzerland boast of 65%, 30% and 20% respectively. This is attributed to insufficient awareness of the impact recycled clothing has in curbing global clothing demands and how accessible these facilities are.
Reputable charities operate numerous recycled clothing banks in Ireland. These include Oxfam Ireland, Liberty Recycling, Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP), NCBI and Enable Ireland. Together they have over 500 clothing banks across Ireland. So, there is always a clothing bank near you. The use of recycled clothing is the first step towards promoting sustainable fashion in Dublin. We can do it.
