It's very tempting to throw things away or even drop them in a recycling bin when we are done with them. Is there a better way?
Share your ideas for extending the “lives” of the items that we buy and use, and their packaging as well!
Reuse & Repurpose >
How thrift shopping effects your carbon footprint
Thrift shopping is a overlooked way to decrease your carbon footprint, since it effects energy consumption, air pollution, landfill and oceans. The average person in America throws away 60-80 pounds of clothing throughout their lifetime, thrift shopping allows for all those clothes to be used again instead of ending up in landfills. Also, many textile do not decompose in water, so when clothing is discarded, ending up in oceans, it stays there for a long period of time hurting the animals and plants around it. The fashion industry accounts for 10% of the worlds carbon emissions, so when clothing is reused at higher and higher rates, the necessity for pumping out so much clothing begins lessen.
This is a great point. Even reusing old textiles for rags is better than sending them to a landfill. I've recently seen some companies that offer textile recycling; I'd be interested to find out if they're legitimate.