Step 3 - Disposing of the non-keep stuff
So I could now move on to the disposal part of my capsule wardrobe activity. This was not as simple a choice as it was in years gone past, which we would bag everything up and take it to the Sallies, or Vinnies or whatever, and they would make use of it. If it was not good enough to wear it would be turned into rags and sold back to industry. One of my first jobs was in the laboratory of a paint manufacturer and we always had a few bags of rags around for clean-up. But the world has moved on!
Due to our friend, fast fashion, the charities are now overflowing with poorly made, cheap clothing, often donated unwashed and in poor condition. This meant that many tonnes of this donated clothing found its way overseas where they supplanted the local textile traditions and/or to landfill. If you are interested it is worth looking this article called ‘Dead White Man’s Clothes’ Dead white man's clothes: How fast fashion is turning parts of Ghana into toxic landfill - ABC News and the associated documentary by the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent The Environmental Disaster that is Fuelled by Used Clothes and Fast Fashion | Foreign Correspondent
So it seemed that there are a number of ways to divest myself of the unwanted clothing. If it was in good nick I could sell it, give it away or donate it, if it was not in good nick it could be upcycled, recycled or dumped. Of these options my two ‘Go-to’s’ were to donate the good stuff and to recycle the not-so-good-stuff although we would hold back some of the not-so-good-stuff for upcycling. Landfill, for me, was not an option.
'Donation' pile
We have a large Salvation Army centre near us so all of our clothing that was of such a quality and condition that we would be prepared to give to a friend, went to the sallies.
Ok, in terms of recycling, that presupposes one knows where to recycle ones clothes. I did some research and there are a number of options, but most will cost you. I was willing to pay (within reason!).
The first option I investigated was Upparel, their process is –
- You buy a label from them starting at $35, depending on what you want to recycle,
- Get yourself a box and then place up to 10kg of textiles to be recycled in the box, then attach the label to the box. For every 10kg box, you buy a separate label.
- Once the box(es) have been filled and labelled, contact Upparel to arrange a pick up or take the box(es) to the post office.
- More details are available from their website UPPAREL Clothing Collection Pick Up Australia & New Zealand
I had previously sent off a bag of old socks in poor condition for recycling to them and was happy with the result.
'Recycle' pile
The second option, which wound up being the one I took, was with a local textile recycling company which I found through the Planet Ark website (Planet Ark - Planet Ark Recycling Near You). They have the imaginative name of Textile Recyclers Australia Pty Ltd. They are less than 20 minutes from our place so I elected to bag up our clothing we wanted to recycle, then drop it off (calling them first to arrange a time). The bag weighed 9kg and they accepted it for the cost of about $2.60 per kilo. Their entry on the planet ark website is accessible here - Textile Recyclers Australia Pty Ltd
Just recently I have become aware of a free service operated through our local(Penrith) council called ‘RecycleSmart’ that allows people who sign up to recycle two 35 litre plastic bags of difficult to recycle materials per month. This includes soft plastics and particularly in our case, textiles. I would suggest that if you want to recycle some textiles that it would be worth contacting your council and asking if they are working with RecycleSmart and offer this service. I believe that they are working with some other councils as well as Penrith. If they are not, ask them why not. Hopefully if enough people are asking the question of their local councils, this service will be able to spread to areas where it is currently not available. The Penrith Council link is here - Recycle Smart - Penrith City Council (nsw.gov.au)
There are options for getting rid of clothes you no longer want or need, but it is no longer a case of 'one size fits all' and for the system to work the way it is meant to, we need to do our part as well, and help out those wonderful charities and NGOs that help us to manager our wardrobe.
Links to previous parts
