{"id":16519,"date":"2014-05-29T09:14:24","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T15:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=16519"},"modified":"2014-05-29T09:14:24","modified_gmt":"2014-05-29T15:14:24","slug":"re-fashionyc-textile-recycling-program-celebrates-three-years-waste-reduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/re-fashionyc-textile-recycling-program-celebrates-three-years-waste-reduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Re-FashioNYC Textile Recycling Program Celebrates Three Years of Waste Reduction"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n New York City\u2019s textile recycling program<\/a>\u00a0Re-FashioNYC<\/a>, just\u00a0turned three years old and reached its goal of diverting one million pounds of unwanted materials from landfills. These donations include clothing, shoes, accessories, towels, linens and rags. New Yorkers are catching on to what Europeans have known for years: everyone wins when we recycle textiles.<\/p>\n Beyond the environmental benefits of having less trash in landfills, recyclers are part of a booming industry with no signs of slowing down. The Council for Textile Recycling (CTR)<\/a> estimates small-scale recyclers<\/a>\u00a0(those\u00a0employing less than 500 employees) gross about $700 million in sales annually. In other words, it pays to go green! Let\u2019s take a closer look at how a city and its residents prosper by recycling.<\/p>\n We\u2019re seeing textile recycling programs popping up in cities all over the country and for good reason. Communities are stronger when we recycle. Donations collected through Re-FashioNYC positively impact the city in the following ways:<\/p>\n I know there\u2019re lots more work to be done to reach the goal of zero textiles in landfills. But just as the idea of recycling aluminum, plastic and papers took time to develop, textile recycling containers soon will become commonplace in stores, apartment buildings and even street corners.<\/p>\n Does your city offer a program for you to recycle your unwanted items? If not, how do you like to reuse and\/or repurpose your textiles? Tell me about it in the comments.<\/p>\nThree Ways Residents\u2019 \u201cGarbage\u201d Help Others<\/h3>\n
\n