conscious closet Archives - Chicago Textile Recycling

Choose Consciously

May 20, 2021August 25, 2021

What does it mean to choose consciously? And why is it important? Here at Chicago Textile Recycling, we educate readers around and encourage textile recycling, but also want our readers to be mindful of the clothes and textiles they add to their closet when in need of purchasing new (to you) items.

“So what is a conscious closet? A conscious closet is a wardrobe built with greater intention and awareness of our clothes, where they come from, what they’re made out of, and why they matter.” (Cline, p 5)

Conscious closets are made up of timeless pieces, secondhand steals, vintage, and quality items. They are thoughtfully created with textile workers’ quality of life, textile sustainability and environmental repercussions in mind. They are all unique and reflect each of our personal styles.

Why Choose a Conscious Closet? Less is Best

“Less is a boon for the planet. It is the single most effective way we can reduce our fashion footprint. The vast majority of the clothing industry’s environmental toll happens while manufacturing new clothes, specifically in the process of turning fiber into fabrics.” (Cline, p 51)

Textile recycling helps keep clothing out of landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Buying sustainably reduces the environmental impact greatly, but as stated above, the very best way to help our planet is to simply buy less.

According to a study in 2018, Americans “have the second highest percentage of unworn clothes: 82 percent of their items never saw the light of day last year.” (Read more here)

If we are only utilizing 18% of the items in our closet, why do we continue to buy more?

“Our closets are meant to hold the beautiful things that we are excited to wear. But they’ve been hijacked and turned into dark recesses for our impulse buys and fashion regrets, and clothes that we don’t like, that don’t work, that don’t fit, and that just need to go.” (Cline, p 15)

Fast fashion is part of the problem. The fashion industry changing trends not only every season, but nearly every week creates this desire to constantly purchase new trending items nearly every week. It is impossible to keep up and creates immense waste. But fast fashion is only part of the problem. There is also a responsibility the consumer needs to take to resist constantly purchasing new pieces. One idea Cline gives in her book is taking a “fashion fast”.

A fashion fast is a “full and intentional break from buying new clothes and the perfect way to kick off the Art of Less.” (Cline, p 53) During the fast, you can: tackle wardrobe repairs, shop your closet, and/or take a capsule wardrobe challenge. (p 55)

A Capsule Wardrobe

One of the ideas Elizabeth Cline gives in her book is creating a capsule wardrobe. This idea has been put to use in numerous fashion blogs, and similar to the idea of a 30 day, 30 items challenge mentioned here but more permanent. “A capsule wardrobe is a small, perfectly planned-out, tightly edited wardrobe of versatile clothes. It’s a wardrobe distilled to its essence, with no extraneous pieces…What defines a capsule wardrobe is not its smallness but the versatility and intentionality of its contents.” (p 102)

Cline discusses further how to create a capsule wardrobe for your personal fashion style and how it is something that can be formed and modified over the years. Put simply, it begins with cleaning out your closet, choosing primarily pieces that can work with many different items in your wardrobe. And then moving forward, pursuing sustainable, or secondhand/vintage pieces to add in. It is about being intentional with what you own, and showing respect to your clothes, even the less quality pieces, taking time to mend and later recycle them.

Choose Quality over Quantity

In addition to constantly changing trends, fast fashion has also reduced the quality of textiles in their pursuit of making the most clothing for the lowest price. Though many companies have pledged to increase wages and conditions for their workers and produce clothing more sustainably, it continues to be a widespread problem. When purchasing new pieces for your closet, we encourage our readers to choose pieces from companies that are pursuing these positive changes.

“Good-quality clothing is good for the planet because it lasts. But quality also lasts because it’s so damn compelling. It’s that essence that draws you to a garment again and again.” (p 57)

At the end of the day, we want to feel good in what we wear. We want our clothes to fit well and to represent our personality and style. Why waste precious money and time buying textiles that sit in your closet for years unworn? We encourage each of you, dear readers, to choose consciously. Choose with intentionality. And please recycle your textiles.

Recycling

Donating with R-E-S-P-E-C-T

April 21, 2021November 8, 2024

“One garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every single second around the world.” (quoted by Elizabeth Cline in “The Conscious Closet”, p32, originally from a publication by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

Many of you, our readers, have asked “Can I donate this?” when referring to items that are torn or stained or in condition less pristine than “gently used.” The answer is yes. Always donate items if you are unsure. Unless it is wet or smelly, please donate it. If it is wet, dry it and then donate it. If it is smelly, wash it and then donate it. As quoted above, trashing textiles continues to be a huge problem in our world, one with huge effects on our ecosystems.

To shine a little more light on this topic, Elizabeth Cline’s book “The Conscious Closet” addresses some of the very questions you have asked and highlights some tips for Used Clothing Etiquette.

Clothing is Not Garbage

“Many of us make an honest effort to donate our gently used clothes, but we’re confused about what to do with the pieces that are worn out or broken. Isn’t it disrespectful to donate these items?” (Cline, p32)

The answer is no. Here at Chicago Textile Recycling, and most resale stores, we want all of your used textiles. As noted above, unless it is smelly or wet, please donate. There are employees highly trained at resale stores and grading facilities that sort each piece, and those that are not resaleable can still be used. Some of the uses for worn out, stained and torn clothing can be fiber content for car seat filling or insulation or wiping rags for businesses such as automotive companies and restaurants, for example. Few donated textiles are truly at their end of life, but it is always best to allow the experts to decide. So please donate textiles, no matter the condition.

“The vast majority of clothes are thrown out before their useful life is over, which amounts to lost value, resources and landfilling fees.” (Cline, p 32) Cline goes on quoting multiple sources about the millions spent in landfill fees for trashing and burning textiles, greenhouse gases emitted by clothes in landfills as well as hazardous chemicals released by some synthetics. She continues, listing the immense environmental benefits from recycling and donating clothing. With donating clothing, she highlights some tips for offering quality donations and showing respect for those to whom we donate.

Used Clothing Etiquette

In her book “Conscious Closet”, Elizabeth Cline devotes hundreds of pages to simple steps the reader can make toward caring for our Earth through taking better care of our textiles. This can be done in a myriad of ways: caring about workers making our clothes, demanding clothes of better quality, keeping textiles out of landfills, treating textiles with respect, understanding different fibers and fabrics and more. After cleaning out our closets, she shares guidelines of etiquette we should strive to follow to make the best use of items we no longer desire to own. They include:

Clean your clothes, no exceptions
Remove personal belongings and detritus
Tie your shoes together
Mend and repair
Never leave your donations outside unattended

Clean Your Clothes, No Exceptions

The first guideline she suggests is to clean your clothes before donating them. This follows our requirements that no donations be smelly or wet upon donation. “Set-in stains are fine if you’re recycling, but odors and unwashed dirt and grime are not.” (p 31) She continues, “Do this out of respect for the dozens of people who will handle your clothes. Dirty clothes also might end up in the dump, as it takes secondhand clothing dealers precious time to wash them.” If you are choosing to donate textiles to help care for our planet, and you are choosing to travel to a bin or resale store, choose also to make sure your donations are clean first.

Remove Personal Belongings and Detritus

The second guideline is to “Inspect your pockets and the fabric and remove all pet hair, lint, dirty tissues, coins, receipts, and the like” (p31). This is done out of respect for those you are donating to so that they do not have to take precious time in doing this. It also can be for your own sake. Shopping for purses at a thrift store, I once came upon a purse that had around ten $1 dollar bills inside. This person missed out on precious money by not checking their items before donation. Other times, I have pulled on my own coats when winter rolled back around only to find a $10 or $20 dollar bill I had forgotten was in the pocket. Remember to check through your items before adding them to donation bags.

Tie Your Shoes Together

Thirdly, Cline recommends tying your shoes together when donating. “There’s an overseas market for single shoes, but those that are paired up are much more valuable and have a greater chance of finding a new home.” (p 31) Again, these guidelines are about respecting workers in the secondhand business and doing small things that make a big difference with our donations.

Mend and Repair

“All donated clothing should be mended or repaired whenever possible to extend the item’s life and keep it out of landfills.” (p 31) At Chicago Textile Recycling and most bins and resale stores, torn textiles are accepted and wanted, but repaired or mended items have higher value and more salability. If you have the time and want to offer higher quality donations, mended and repaired items are greatly appreciated.

Never Leave Your Donations Outside Unattended

Lastly, as we have said before, especially during this time of Covid-19, when many resale stores have reduced hours or are even closing at times for the pandemic, it is vital that you check with your donation site first to make sure they are accepting donations at that time. If they are closed or “the collection point is full, do not leave your items outdoors unattended. Clothing left outside might get rained on or become damp and then mildew. From there, it will be landfilled.” (p 31)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T and Gratitude

All of us at Chicago Textile Recycling are thankful for your donations. A big part of our gratitude is having those who donate show respect for our planet, for their textiles and for us by following many of these guidelines of etiquette and showing great care for their textiles. It is the heart of our organization to see textiles stay out of landfills and have second lives in the hands of other consumers, as wiping rags or as fiber content. If you have further questions about donations we accept, check here and then reach out for more information or to find your nearest bin or resale store.