Wondering what to do with your old clothes? Many keep them dumped in the store rooms or in suitcases while many dump them in trash bins. Textile dumps cause great negative impact on economy and environment. These clothes emit methane, which is far more hazardous than the emission of carbons.
In many countries, these dumped clothing’s find their way to the factory incinerators which use it them to generate energy. However, this transformation leads to emission of smog and carbon monoxide along with lead and mercury. These chemicals are very hazardous to the atmosphere.
Moreover, if these clothes are simply dumped and not re-used, they can have a negative impact on the economy. Approximately, clothes costing millions of dollars are dumped, isn’t that a massive economic loss to the GDP?
To reveal more, it has been established that approximately 100% of the dumped clothes can be recycled. Rigged, soiled, torn, threaded- almost anything and everything can be recycled.
Following are some simple applications of used clothes:
Paving material
Sneakers are the most commonly dumped object in developed countries. New fashions and designs give way to the older fashion, which are finally dumped in trash. However, did you know every bit of the sneakers can be recycled? For example, paving materials can be made from the rubber soles while the cushion materials used in these shoes can be used to make the tracks used by athletes or in tennis courts.
Carpet padding
These padding’s can be made from recycled sweaters and coats. They are reduced to fibers and then converted into carpet padding.
Wiping cloths
This is a traditional usage by many families. Old, soiled or torn clothes are used as wiping cloths. They are simply torn to the desirable sizes and used as wiping cloths for kitchen equipments, platforms, floor cleaning etc. They not only are durable, but also cost nothing.
Baseball and softball filling
These can be made from used woolen sweaters. They are simple cut into small pieces are filled into baseballs or softballs to the desired volume and weight.
Jewelry box lining
Jewelry boxes are commonly made of velvet fabrics. Velvet dresses are not used more than twice by many. Would you like to dress up in the same velvet dress for every alternate party? Hence, after having worn a few times these can be converted into chair covers, pillows or jewelry boxes.
Summary
Many countries have started the culture of dressing in used clothes and recycling them. These countries are Africa, Central America and a few parts in Asia.
