Closing the Loop - Rethinking Reuse for a Circular Economy

Captain Planet helped us all realize the power of those blue bins and the need to make the simple decision to recycle. And over the last few decades, we've taken great strides to make recycling of paper, bottles and cans second nature in many communities. But what about other items that also are a big part of our daily lives and deserve similar attention?

Take clothing, for example. How often do we think about recycling clothes we no longer want or need? Sure, some of us donate clothes or pass them along to a friend or family member, but more often than not used clothing is sent to a landfill. In fact, the U.S. singlehandedly generates 25 billion pounds of textiles every year and 85 percent of it ends up piled high in landfills. By 2019, textile waste is projected to reach more than 35 billion pounds unless we do something about it. Like paper, bottles and cans, clothing can be recycled. But there's another, even better, way to reduce the environmental impact of clothing: reuse.

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