Oct 15, 2008 10:13 am US/Eastern
Tattered Clothes Have Hidden Value
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Often by the time our kids outgrow their clothes, they are pretty worn out. But even clothes that are ripped and tattered are still valuable to charities.
Katrina Drones often thought her family's old clothes were so bad that she only had one option.
"I have actually thrown some clothes away, if they have holes in them," she said.
Emily Main of the
National Geographic Green Guide says there is no need to put those old clothes in the trash. But unfortunately, that's what happens all too often. In fact, 93 percent of textiles can be recycled, but only about 15 percent end up getting reused. The end result is about 10 tons of trash, which clog our landfills.
Main says old fabric can be recycled just like glass, paper, or plastic.
"They get turned into stuffing for couches. Really high find quality stationery is made out of recycled cotton rags," Main said. "It's used as stuffing car doors, for acoustic insulation."
Charities like the
Salvation Army are able to use clothes regardless of their condition.
Henry Filoto explains, "What doesn't sell is recycled. Whether they are resorted and resold in other countries or they're sorted and then reprocessed to be used for other types of materials."
The clothes that need to be recycled are sold by the bale to textile recyclers.
Chris Walsh of Leigh Fibers said, "We take it from a thread or yarn state down to a fibrous state, which allows us to mix it with other fibers that our customers need for their products."
Filoto says people don't realize just how valuable those tattered clothes can be.
"Every dollar that we receive in recycling, that's another dollar that we can funnel into our programs," Filoto said.
Katrina likes knowing all of her family's old castoffs can be helpful. "Just because my kids can't wear their clothes anymore doesn't mean its something I need to throw away."
There are a lot of different companies with bins for donations. Be advised that some of them are for profit companies, which means they do keep some of the proceeds for themselves.
Find a clothing donation location near you
Good Will Donation Centers
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