We all purchase clothes throughout the year and discard what we don’t need, or what doesn’t fit as we go along. Have you ever thought about what happens to those clothes, blankets or towels that we no longer want or need?

Because we have so much textile waste in the United States and yes, here in Lyon County, we need to be aware of what is happening with these items. According to Recycle Nation, “the U.S. generates an average of 25 billion pounds of textiles per year. Textiles can include clothing, footwear, accessories, towels, bedding, drapery, etc. Of the 25 billion pounds of textiles that are generated each year, only 15% of those are donated or recycled. If only 15% are recycled then that means 85% of the textiles generated each year are thrown into U.S. landfills. In real numbers that means 21 billion pounds of textiles are piled into our landfills each and every year.”

While it may be true in other areas that there is quite a bit of textiles thrown away, fortunately, in our area, this is not the case. We don’t see very much textile waste coming into the landfill as other areas. This is because we are using our local thrift stores. This, in turn, sometimes overwhelms our local thrift stores with textiles in abundance with more than what they can handle.

While it is great that much of our textiles that are unwanted go to not only other areas of the United States, there is much of the textiles from the US that goes to other countries. These textiles are often the clothing and towels or other textiles that the thrift stores do not want. These items would normally go into the landfill except that now they are going to Haiti or Africa.

At first glance, we would think that they are probably glad to have these items to use but that is not always the case. Just as China eventually did not want our recyclables because so much of it was poor quality, other countries are starting to decline our textile waste as well. This is because it isn’t good quality clothing but part of the “rag trade.”

Lyon County sends tons of baled up clothes to some of these markets because either we do not want them or there is simply not enough room at our local thrift stores. Thrift stores were particularly hit hard when all of us were busy cleaning out our closets during the pandemic.

So how can we help stem the tide of our love of clothing? First, ask yourself if you really need to purchase another item? Can you purchase an item that will last longer? A $10 T-shirt will not last as long as a $20 T-shirt, for example. Buy from brands that are trying to recycle their items into new items such as Levis Jeans, H and M or The North Face. Repair what you can and take part in repair clinics if offered in your area. Take care of clothing by washing in cold water and not drying items if you can. This will also save you money on your utility bill.

Moreover and most importantly, try to purchase clothing from a thrift store. This helps to keep good clothing in the loop to be used until the end of its natural life. There is no shame in “hand-me-downs.”

Thrift stores would like to remind all clothing recyclers that they only want clean textiles. Please make sure that items are clean before bringing them to the store for drop off. If you have items that are only good for rags, some thrift stores will also take those items but they must be separated from other items. Please call ahead and ask the thrift store if they take those items before bringing them.