Your Donated Clothes Are Most Likely in a Landfill. So What Do You Do Instead?

Written by: Cassidy Villeneuve- March 16th, 2023

Welcome to a free edition of our Toohla Blog! It's packed with the latest news and resources on climate, sustainability, and ways to reduce our impact on the environment.

If you like this post, check out some of our other posts: 

1. Good Credit, Bad Credit - Carbon Markets, Demystified
2. Wondering What You Can Do for the Climate? Here’s a Start

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Clothes are fun, mood-changing, empowering. They’re self-expression. But when they end up in a landfill, decomposing and releasing Carbon emissions into the air, we've got a problem. In fact, the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global Carbon emissions. We’re here to talk about how much of clothes really get recycled, why “just stop shopping” isn’t realistic advice (even for the sustainability-minded), and how we can still have fun with clothes without so many of the negatives.

The good news is we, as consumers, can play a role in solving the problem of fashion industry emissions. As Americans, we only wear an item of clothing seven times on average before discarding it. If we adopted a more conscious approach to how we buy and discard clothes (in tandem with brands updating their business models), we could avoid 347 million tons of emissions in 2030. That’s equivalent to the annual emissions of the entire country of France!

The key ingredients to thoughtful fashion consumption are:

• Getting creative with how we get rid of unwanted clothes
• Taking good care of the clothes we do have
• Thinking (and researching!) before we buy
• Choosing well-made and pre-owned options more often than fast fashion

Let’s get into it.

Tips for cycling clothes out

Mass produced fashion trends typically last no longer than a year before we're inundated with the next hottest thing. Unfortunately, getting rid of clothes you don’t love anymore is not as simple as donating to your nearest secondhand shop. Only about a third of donated clothes go back into rotation. The majority actually end up overseas or in landfills anyway. Companies that recycle clothing (by shredding or chemically digesting them) don’t work that well at scale. And companies that “upcycle” clothing don’t have a large enough market to handle all the clothes thrown away. Only about 1% of clothing was recycled into new clothes in 2021 and remanufacturing comes with its own carbon emission costs.

The statistics are gloomy! All the more reason to love what we buy and keep it as long as we can. Depending on where you live, there are also some great local organizations (like Chicago Textile Recycling) that partner with local and national resale programs, as well as textile recycling groups, and will cycle your donations toward the appropriate group.

For clothes you truly don’t wear anymore, organize a clothing swap with friends or explore selling them on online resale markets like DePop, ThredUP, Poshmark, and eBay. Make a buck and let the life of your clothing live on in someone else’s closet.

Start with what you have

Ever ripped a hole in your jeans, lamented that they’re only going to rip more, and gotten rid of them? We’re all guilty of it. But with a little fix, we could have saved them and added a little character at the same time! There’s so much you can do to extend the lifespan of the clothes you already own. And it all comes down to two things: care and repair.

Care

It’s easy just to throw your clothes into the washer and dryer and hope for the best. But following those wash labels actually goes a long way for keeping them in good condition. You’d be surprised how many millions of people will throw away an item because they haven’t been washing it correctly and it shrunk or worse. Even when faced with the toughest of stains, explore Youtube videos about washing wool, sequined (or otherwise challengingly textured) clothing, and leather. Try wearing clothes more than once and avoid washing materials too often. And washing with cold water extends an item’s life.

Repair

You might think the art of mending has been lost to time or reduced to a hobby enjoyed by a select few who have the time. But actually, 50% of consumers say they repair their own clothes! And nearly a quarter pay for repair services. You have options before throwing out those ripped jeans. If you’re a hobby person, consider taking a sewing class focused on mending or making new stuff out of clothes you already have. You can have fun with this stuff! For those of us with a bit less free time, find quick mending tips on Youtube that work with a rudimentary sewing kit. A ten-minute how-to video could save you a 30 minute online shopping journey. Some brands will repair their clothes for free (Patagonia!).

Renew

Others cycle previously worn items back into rotation at much lower prices. Some brands known to have adopted this circular business model are Arc’teryx, Allbirds, Eileen Fisher, Madewell, Levi’s, Lululemon, Patagonia, REI, Seasalt, and Timberland. That means not only can you get this brandwear for a discount, you can also avoid your clothing donations ending up in a landfill. Just keeping clothes in use for nine months longer than average (i.e. increasing their lifespan to 3 years), can save water and associated emissions by 20-30%. And–good news!–the resale market is supposed to triple in the next few years.

Mental checklist I use before buying

Have you ever bought something in-store that you just had to have, only to then wear it once? I’ve been there. It may help coming up with a list of questions to run through before buying to avoid getting caught up in the moment. These are mine, which I find save me lots of guilt later on. If I can’t answer ‘yes’ to at least 3 out of 5, it’s a no!

1. Will I wear this regularly? Where? (If my answer is “only on special occasions,” I think long and hard about it…)
2. Can I easily pair it with my other clothes?
3. Would I wear this as is? Or will I need to make alterations? Will I follow through on that?
4. Will I be able to wash this correctly on my own? If not, is taking it to the dry cleaner something that reasonably fits into my routine?
5. Do I feel good and confident in this?

Buying things to last

It’s unreasonable to expect us never to buy clothing again. When you do buy, think of it as an investment. What styles do you see yourself wanting to wear decades from now? What materials will hold up to wear and tear? We have tips for you as you seek high-quality for the long-haul:

• Leave something in your online cart for a day and see if you want it tomorrow. Avoid the impulse buy and get things you really want instead.
• Follow the “before you buy” mental checklist above to avoid buying duds in-store.
• Try upcycled, thrifted, and other “pre-loved” clothing! Vintage items (especially from before the 1980s) are often better made than modern garments and have a lasting style. If you’re worried about cleanliness, follow these tips before and after you buy. Browsing DePop, ThredUP, Poshmark, and eBay can be pretty addicting.
• Consider a wardrobe where a few, interchangeable items can create lots of different outfits.
• Check the materials. Price isn’t always the best way to determine quality. Well-made, organic fiber clothing lasts longer and isn’t designed to go out of style. Caveat! If you take really good care of that inexpensive fast fashion item you wear all the time, that’s better than throwing out a more sustainable option after a few wears any day.

• 🟥 Polyester is non-biodegradable, derived from oil, and takes a lot of water and energy to produce. It also releases microplastics when you wear and wash it. However, recycled polyester fabric is a nice option because it’s often made from plastic bottles that would have ended up in a landfill. Producing recycled polyester takes less water and is a process that can be repeated several times. However, the microplastics problem still remains when washing it.
• 🟥 Acrylic fabric (typically used for warm clothes) is also non-biodegradable and requires a toxic production process that can be unsafe for workers. Its chemical ingredients can also affect your health when you wear it.
• 🟥 Nylon is a synthetic fabric derived from oil. It’s definitely not biodegradable and releases a lot of toxic stuff to produce it. All around, it’s quite a resource-intensive process. Rayon–its plant derived counterpart–is often touted as the more sustainable option. Unfortunately, rayon production also relies heavily on chemicals that can harm workers and surrounding environments.
• 🟨 Cotton, when grown conventionally, uses a ton of water and pesticides. Organic cotton is more sustainable. And recycled organic cotton is even more so.
• 🟩 Organic hemp and linen fabrics are durable, sustainable options. Hemp doesn’t need a lot of water and is a good fit for regenerative agriculture. And linen is made from flax plants, which can also be produced organically and with minimal water.
• 🟩 Other “green” fabrics include econyl (made from materials like fishing nets), tencel (made from wood pulp), and new experimental fabrics like piñatex (made out of pineapple fibers) and qmonos (made from spider silk). These are admittedly less available than other fabrics, so if you are going for a less sustainable option, plan to keep it in your wardrobe for a long time.

Understanding sustainability claims

Judging a brand’s commitment to sustainability might be another factor in whether or not we buy something. It has become increasingly important to more people in the last two decades. But most of us (77% in fact!) don’t know where to look or what we’re looking for when evaluating sustainability claims. So first, let’s define what makes or breaks a brand’s sustainability. We’re talking about:

• The resources it took to grow the plants or make the synthetic materials for fabrics
• The use of hazardous chemicals (pesticides, dyes) anywhere along the process
• Working conditions and fair pay for supply chain workers
• Emissions from heating and otherwise running manufacturing facilities
• Waste and other pollution created along the supply chain
• Emissions from packaging and transporting garments from manufacturer to consumer

You might look for a sustainability certification of some kind. Brands can become certified by groups like the Better Cotton Initiative, Global Organic Textile Standard, Global Recycle Standard, the Responsible Wool Standard, the Leather Working Group, and the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals coalition. But unfortunately, there isn’t a unified gold standard for sustainability yet. Erica Vilkauls, fashion industry adviser at Carbon Responsible, says a gold standard would cover “how we grow materials, how we produce them and by whom, what dyes we use, how much water and electricity is used, sampling, transport, freight movement and storage.” We still need that.

In the meantime, just know that what makes fashion sustainable for you might be different than someone else. If price is the most important determining factor for you when buying new clothes, try organizing a clothing swap with friends to trade out things you’re tired of rather than going the fast fashion route. If having the latest trends is most important to you, try renting clothes on an ongoing basis–saving you closet space and the money you’d spend on something you’d only wear a handful of times. If you find yourself stuffing those ripped jeans in a closet or (gasp) throwing them away (please don’t!) in favor of a new pair, grab a sewing kit and spend an hour or two patching them up (maybe while listening to a podcast!). Sustainable consumption takes many forms.

Reflecting on how we consume

We can swap tips about how to better care for our clothing, how to buy items that will last, and where to get rid of stuff when we’re done with it. But underlying it all is a larger question. What drives us to consume so much?

Every day we’re bombarded with personalized ad after ad on our social media feeds, emails, and web searches–targeting our desire for more. Our consumption-obsessed culture makes it hard not to join in. Our clothing buying has doubled since 2000. Doubled! And we keep clothes for half as long as we used to. What changed? Some would say we’re buying for trends and to boost our self-esteem, rather than for a wardrobe that lasts. Ubiquitous marketing pressures us to refresh, keep up, and move on. And one-click online shopping feeds our fleeting whims. But do we really need more? Or is shopping a futile attempt to fill another kind of longing, making us crave more and more when our underlying need isn’t fulfilled? We’re living in a cult of selling self-esteem. For every unflattering comment we think about ourselves–if only I were more fashionable or taller or professional-looking–there exists a company that profits off of that feeling.

Consumers are noticing this and feeling off balance. 75% think about sustainability and social justice when they shop–Does the brand have eco-friendly packaging? Do they pay their workers well? How much emissions come from producing their clothing materials? But when it comes time to check out, these questions often fade away.

The Climate Crisis asks us to rethink what we’ve accepted to be true about our society. These things that we've accepted are actually harmful to us and the planet. With new ways of thinking, we can pave the way for a more safe, comfortable, healthy, equitable culture and a better future for all of us. When we think of how to make more sustainable fashion choices, it’s not just about asking ourselves, how do I check if a brand is following through on their sustainability promises? The question is also: What need am I trying to fulfill with stuff that could be better met somewhere else in my life? How can I ultimately be a happier and truer version of myself?

That is what Toohla is here to help you answer. To join us on our climate journey, consider downloading our app. Happy Living!