Why do we need to Recycle?

If we take a moment to trace the life of a piece of cotton clothing, you would certainly come to the conclusion that the local landfill in an inappropriate ending for that garment. The work involved in transforming that cotton to some type of apparel should provide you with the enthusiasm necessary to place that clothing into a READ used clothing container when you have determined that for whatever reason, it is no longer part of your wardrobe.

Believe it or not, cotton has been traced back approximately 7,000 years ago.  On or about 3000BC saw Egyptians making and wearing cotton clothing.  Machinery was first used to spin cotton in England in 1730.  Then we had the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney.  Cotton now moved from the fields, to the gin, to the textile mill, and then to a finishing plant where the product is now ready to be cut and sewn into clothing.  The finished product is then shipped all over the world to wholesalers and then retailers, who then sell the product to you.

When you look to retire a particular piece of clothing, please remember that the finishing plant bleaches, dyes, printed and given a special finish.  Sometimes the finished product in not biodegradable and that would not be good for our landfills.  There is concern that the dyes and finishes could make their way to our aquifers, poisoning our water supply.  Obviously, our landfills are not limitless.  It has been projected that we could reduce the amount taken to our landfills by 6% annually if we recycled our textile products.

There is also the feel good approach to recycling.  There is a certain amount of self satisfaction that you feel when you donate your used clothing to the less fortunate.  Factor that in with the charitable dollars that are received as the result of the placement of containers for the designated charity.  Charitable dollars that help to make some child’s life a little better.

Looking at these reasons, recycling your textile products becomes a win-win situation for everybody.  So, make that extra effort and take all of your unwanted, used clothing to the nearest READ clothing bin.