BUFFALO, N.Y. — ‘Tis the season for cleaning out your closet, the kids’ closets, the pantry — the list goes on.
The EPA reports people generate 16 million tons of textile waste a year.
On average, 700,000 tons of used clothing are exported overseas. About 2.5 million tons of clothing are recycled. Over 3 million tons are incinerated, and 10 million tons are sent to landfills.
“Come on, you can find a wedding dress for like 30 bucks here,” Cheyenne Brzeowski said.
Goodwill is the place for that.
For shoppers like Brzeowski, it’s the prices and helping the community around her that makes it the ultimate deal.
“It makes me feel a lot better knowing that, you know, people have a place to donate everything,” Brzeowski said.
Those donations add up.
“We really take in, I would estimate, millions of pounds of clothing that we receive from our community,” said Linda Maraszek, marketing manager of Goodwill of Western New York.
In turn, it keeps millions of pounds of clothing out of landfills across New York state.
“And you’re really giving them a second life because someone else gets the chance to enjoy that item,” Maraszek said.
What can’t be sold, is recycled.
The question is, how much of old clothing across the board ends up in a landfill?
“Ninety percent of them end up in a landfill somewhere,” said Aditya Vedantam, an associate professor of operations management in the School of Management at UB.
Vedantam has done extensive research on sustainability issues. Most notably, this study was the first to quantify the profitability and environmental impact of apparel resale models.
“We found that there were two commonly used models,” Vedantam said.
The first is a trade-in option.
“And I give it back and get a discount on clothing,” Vedantam explained.
He says Patagonia, Levi and several other companies have this model where clothing then gets recycled or resold. The second model is used by fast fashion retailer H&M. It’s a peer-to-peer marketplace.
“So, it’s a platform to encourage resales between consumers, directly between consumers with no involvement of the company personally, “Vedantam said.
Knowing how a company’s business model and how it impacts the environment is one thing. Vedantam says the other is knowing the process of making, and then caring for an item.
“For example, a pair of jeans, use a ton of water to make,” he said. Growing cotton, clothing made from cotton or growing cotton requires a lot of pesticides. It requires a lot of water.”
Polyester-based items create more fossil fuel-based emissions during production. Then, there’s the impact once it’s home with you.
How often do you wash the item? What is used to create the electricity you use and what’s your climate?
“In particularly colder climates, you may be using your dryer a lot more,” Vedantam said.
He says to buy clothing made from recycled material or buy it second-hand.
“Instead of just throwing them out, they have a place to put them that could help somebody else out,” Brzeowski said.
Proceeds from every purchase go to Goodwill’s workforce development program. This helps folks find a job and change careers, and you’re helping them provide for themselves and their families.