Earth Archives - Chicago Textile Recycling

Earth Focused Holidays

March 2, 2023

The months of March and April bring many different holidays and remembrances promoting recycling and ways of caring for our planet. These include: Global Recycling Day on March 18, Earth Hour on March 25, Earth Day on April 22 and Fashion Revolution Week the week of April 24. On this first day of March, we would love to share a little more about each of these days and the history as well as the potential impact each can play toward our future. There are many ways to celebrate and to get involved locally and on a larger scale.

Global Recycling Day – March 18

The first of these holidays is Global Recycling Day. Celebrated on March 18 on the heels of St. Patrick’s Day, “Global Recycling Day was created in 2018 to help recognise, and celebrate, the importance recycling plays in preserving our precious primary resources and securing the future of our planet. It is a day for the world to come together and put the planet first.” (found here) It is a day to raise awareness and volunteer in a variety of ways to help care for our planet.

The Global Recycling Commission set out a twofold mission for this holiday:

“1. To tell world leaders that recycling is simply too important not to be a global issue, and that a common, joined up approach to recycling is urgently needed.

2. To ask people across the planet to think resource, not waste, when it comes to the goods around us – until this happens, we simply won’t award recycled goods the true value and repurpose they deserve.” (found here)

As the first holiday in our lineup, Global Recycling Day sets out an important agenda for calling on our leaders to unite in pushing for political reforms to highlight the importance of recycling and for enlightening others around the world about its importance in their day to day life choices.

Earth Hour – March 25

Our second planet-honoring holiday this season is Earth Hour, which is observed for one hour on the last Saturday in March. From 8:30-9:30pm on Saturday, March 25th people around the country and even world will be turning off their lights to honor Earth Hour. 2022 saw “people from 192 countries and territories [come] together in support of people and our planet. We saw landmarks turn off their lights and supporters switch off at home, as well as a range of activities such as virtual concerts, mangrove planting, street clean-ups and virtual runs.” (found here)

Earth Hour was “started in 2007 by WWF and partners as a symbolic lights-out event in Sydney to raise awareness of climate change,” (here) and has now “become a catalyst for positive environmental impact, driving major legislative changes by harnessing the power of the people and collective action.” It is easy to participate in this event. Simply turn off your lights for this one hour in March. And feel free to become involved in bigger ways too – through writing legislators to cleaning up parks and more.

Earth Day – April 22

A third, and very well known, planet loving holiday this Spring is Earth Day. Celebrated on April 22, Earth Day “marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970.” (found here) Begun by two senators as teach-ins on college campuses, that first year “Earth Day inspired 20 million Americans — at the time, 10% of the total population of the United States — to take to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate against the impacts of 150 years of industrial development which had left a growing legacy of serious human health impacts.” Over the decades, Earth Day has become a global holiday involving over 100 countries in the mission to take better care of our planet.

On their website, Earth Day 2023 has six ways to make a difference this year:

Educate our youth through classroom learning
Break free from single use plastics
Plant trees (through the Canopy Project)
Use your voting power to protect our environment
Clean up communities, beaches, rivers, lakes, trails and parks
Choose sustainable fashion over fast fashion

Many cities post about Earth Day celebrations – so be on the lookout for ways to get involved in your own neck of the woods and help care for planet Earth.

Fashion Revolution – Week of April 24

The final way we spread awareness, and honor the care of our planet over these few months is through Fashion Revolution Week, which always falls on the week of April 24, commemorating the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh. You can read more about this in our blog “5 Ways to Fight Fast Fashion.” In 2013, over one thousand young women were killed and more than 2,500 more were injured when the building collapsed.

On their website, they list numerous ways to get involved here, including packets on ways to get involved, hosting an event, educational resources for teachers and educators and posters to print to help spread awareness. Also on our blog listed above, we share five ways to get involved in the fight against fast fashion.

We Can Care All Year Long

Though these four commemorations and holidays all fall within the months of March and April, don’t feel limited to volunteer or spread the word only during these months. Park services are always looking for volunteers to help clean up and take care of parks and beaches. There are many months where you can help plant trees or butterfly and bumblebee friendly plants. Educating others and spreading awareness can happen any time of the year. And we can always change our way of living by starting to recycle and making more conscientious decisions about the things we purchase.

Green Benefits

Earth Day is Almost Here

April 17, 2020April 9, 2020

Next Wednesday is Earth Day. This year, 2020, marks 50 years of Earth Day being celebrated. On their website about Earth Day, the organizers of the Earth Day movement explain some of the history behind how Earth Day came to be:

“Americans were consuming vast amounts of leaded gas through massive and inefficient automobiles. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of the consequences from either the law or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Until this point, mainstream America remained largely oblivious to environmental concerns and how a polluted environment threatens human health.

However, the stage was set for change with the publication of Rachel Carson’s New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. The book represented a watershed moment, selling more than 500,000 copies in 24 countries as it raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and the inextricable links between pollution and public health.”

Earth Day was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. It was created to have a day focused on the environment and the concerns of air and water pollution. The very first Earth Day in 1970 had a turnout of 20 million Americans who “took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies.” That first Earth Day “led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.” Twenty years later, Earth Day went global.

Ideas for Earth Day

Every year there are a wide number of events to attend in celebration and honor of Earth Day. This year, however, with coronavirus creating the need for social distancing, here are some other ways you can help in your own neighborhood, yard or corner of the world.

Virtual Event

On Wednesday, April 22nd, Chicago Park Districts Friends of the Parks is hosting a digital Earth Day celebration. Previously, they had organized a city wide parks clean up day for the weekend prior. However, this has been postponed due to coronavirus. They are planning to reschedule the outdoor clean up day once the “shelter in place” order has ended. Check here to find out more about their Digital Earth Day.

Start Your Own Compost

Composting is great for the environment in that it reduces the amount of waste you are sending to the landfills each week and it is nutrient rich for your flower or vegetable garden. You can buy composting kits from online stores or read information online about creating a hole in your backyard for compost heap. Remember to cover it after adding food scraps to keep critters out.

Recycle Textiles

Another great way to help the environment is to clean out your textiles and donate them to our bins and partner resale stores. Earth Day would be a great day to come together as a family and clean out closets and dressers, but as mentioned in our other social media posts, please keep them at home in storage until the quarantine has lifted so that we can keep our employees safe. Textile recycling is great for the environment because it keeps textiles out of landfills and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Pick Up Trash in Your Neighborhood

If you are feeling stir crazy, leave home while also keeping others safe by taking a walk in your neighborhood, local park or preserve that remains open. Remember to continue to practice social distancing and stick close to your family. While you are out on your walk, take a pair of gloves and some trash bags to pick up trash along the way. Cleaning up your neighborhood and park helps the environment so that animals and other creatures don’t end up eating the trash or getting stuck in it. This also reduces the risk of trash being blown into bodies of water to contaminate lifeforms there.

Plant Flowers to Attract Butterflies and Bumblebees

Butterflies and bumblebees are important to our ecosystems and pollination. They offer natural pest control and provide food for larger animals. They also eat weedy plants. “About one third of the food people eat depends on the work of pollinators such as butterflies.” (Read more here.) According to this site for the USDA, “bees of all sorts pollinate approximately 75 percent of the fruits, nuts and vegetables grown in the United States, and one out of every four bites of food people take is courtesy of bee pollination.” Butterflies and bumblebees are vital parts of the ecosystem and can help in growing flower and vegetable gardens in your yard. This Earth Day, you can choose to plant flowers and other plants that will attract these incredibly beneficial creatures. For information on what to plant, read more here.

How CTR is Involved on Earth Day and Everyday

Here at Chicago Textile Recycling, we are ever expanding our efforts to decrease textile waste and we are seeking additional partners. We are currently seeking resale stores in the Chicagoland area looking to generate funds recycling excess and unsaleable items. We are also seeking communities, businesses or organizations interested in establishing a textile recycling partnership program by hosting a recycling bin! If you know of any place of business in your area willing to host a bin or expand their outreach for helping the Earth, please reach out to us.

Textiles currently make up 6.3% of the waste stream, which means the average American throws away 81 lbs of clothing annually! So the need is real! We have premade letters and informative fliers you can share with anyone who may be interested and we offer numerous incentives for you in using our bins:

Get paid for goods collected
Provide a convenient service
Increase traffic to your business
Help the environment
Support a local small business

Earth Day

No matter what you choose to do this Earth Day, take the day, the week, the month and hopefully the whole year to share with others how important it is to do our part in taking care of our planet. Educate yourself and others on small changes to make in your day to day that can add up to a major difference for the future, and remember to recycle your textiles.

Seasonal

Finding Peace in the Frenzy: A Spirit of Gratitude…

November 26, 2019January 10, 2020

Last year in 2018, “the period between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday generated 19.2% of the total holiday revenue. In total, that five-day period accounted for $24.2 billion in sales, a 23% increase as compared to 2017.” Worldwide, we spent “$998.32 billion” dollars on Holiday spending in 2018. (Read more here.)

During this very frenetic season of shopping and buying and giving, it can be hard to focus on living a life of gratitude for what we already have. The desire to constantly find the best product for the best price for that person on your Holiday list, or even a little something for yourself, can be exhausting, and can go head to head with the very eco-conscious decision to truly be content with what we have. This season, Chicago Textile Recycling challenges you, our reader, to try and pursue contentment where you are, and to pursue a sense of gratefulness for all that you already own. Further, we challenge you to pursue gratefulness for our Earth and the gifts it shares with us year round.

This will look different to each of you, but there are many ways you can pursue gratefulness amidst the hustle and bustle of the season and find peace in the frenzy. Here are suggestions for four ways that may help you focus and find gratitude this season:

Giving to Those in Need

For some of you, it may mean taking the focus off of yourself or things, and placing the focus elsewhere, such as giving time or money to low income schools, volunteering at a hospital or soup kitchen, or donating toys to one of the many organizations that help others in need, such as Toys for Tots, or Angel Tree. You may also know of someone in your neighborhood or at your workplace or school who is struggling and could use some help with the Holidays for their family.

Here at Chicago Textile Recycling, we purchase unusable items during the holiday season and year round. Two of the organizations we work with are Share our Spare and Cradles to Crayons in Chicago. We purchase items they receive as donations and cannot use or are in excess.

Share our Spare is a Chicago-based charity that serves families in need with diapers, clothes, and other baby and child necessities. They have open volunteer sessions on the calendar, or you can contact the organization to come volunteer as a family or group on your own. They also have an Amazon wishlist and accept gently used items for children and babies. They also accept donations that go toward purchasing items for families in need.

Similar to Share our Spare, Chicago Textile Recycling also works with the Chicago branch of Cradles to Crayons, a national organization serving families with children in need. Likewise, the organization accepts “like new” and new children’s clothing and necessities, monetary donations to buy said items, and volunteers either in your own neighborhood hosting drives to collect items, or at volunteer work stations at the Giving Factory in downtown Chicago. Another neat option they offer is sponsoring a KidPack for kids in need in Chicagoland. You can either pay for the total Kidpack or purchase items off the Amazon wishlist for each child. As these children’s Kidpacks are completed, new children in need pop up on the site.

Choosing Gifts with Purpose

For some of you, it may mean simply choosing to ignore fast fashion and products that you know are cheaply made in order to buy fewer but higher quality and longer lasting products for those you love. This Holiday season, try choosing eco-friendly products, or even recycled products as gifts for others this year could be a way of living eco-consciously and choosing gratitude for well-made products that help the Earth. “Today, the average consumer spends $1,226 on Holiday Gifts.” When you as the consumer are out (or in) buying holiday gifts, be mindful and make buying decisions that help and not harm the environment.

This could also mean making homemade gifts this year. From sugar scrubs to baked goods to crafts to painted textiles, there are thousands of homemade gift ideas, which are often appreciated even more as the recipient knows you spent time and love pouring into its creation.

Taking Stock and Gratefulness

For some of you it may simply mean finally cleaning out what you already own and taking a better calculation of what you have, so you can truly know what you need. A part of this is choosing to recycle textiles you no longer need to your local resale store or donation bin. Usually, when you realize how much you already own, it helps you appreciate what you have, and hold more gratefulness for your material things. Also, this often results in buying less stuff, which is definitely eco-friendly. Contact us for info about bin locations near you.

This too is a great way to give to those in need by donating your items to small local resale stores with charity partnerships or causes you believe in. At CTR, we work with over 40 local partner stores, the majority of which help to fund a small local nonprofit. By simply asking around or looking online, you can find your nearest resale store that offers help and hope to those in need in your area too.

Gratefulness for the World Around Us

And for some of you, it may not be about stuff, but about stepping back and breathing amid the chaos that can sometimes consume us this time of year. Take a look around at the gifts our planet shares with us. Take time to appreciate and enjoy the beautiful sunset, the white of the snow, the crispness of the fall chill, the stars in the sky, the cycle of the Earth as Autumn slowly turns to Winter and the trees and plants go into hibernation.

Make snow angels with your family, go sledding at the local park, take a wintry walk, and breathe in the fresh cold air as you look around and take in our beautiful planet.

Choose What is Important

Regardless of what gratitude and peace may look like for you this season, remember to slow down and enjoy the most important things. Surrounded by family and friends is a good place to be. Avoiding the Holiday crowds, the hustle and bustle and frenzy of lines can only make life a little sweeter and a little less stressed these next few weeks. Choosing gifts for others we can be proud of and stand behind, and choosing what matters most can only add to our joy as we seek gratitude and stillness in this Holiday season.