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What We Do
It's time to start thinking about our clothing differently. We can see textile waste impacting every small town in America. Every day, more than 1,000 pounds of clothing, shoes, and accessories end up in landfills in EVERY American town. This is not a new issue. For over 40 years, textiles have been burdening our landfills, posing a significant threat to our environment. Unfortunately, the problem is only getting worse, and we're approaching a point of no return. In 1991, the total textile waste across our country was only 1%. However, we're approaching 10%, with no end in sight. That's why we're here.
Changing the way we think about clothing.
Community Outreach
Thanks to your decision to use Apparel Impact, we are able to provide clothing, shoes, accessories, blankets and other resources, including diapers and food, to over 3,000 people and families annually. We host a number of community outreach events each month in underserved areas throughout New England, making these items available to those in need. For example, at our "shopping experience" events, around 10,000 items are offered with no limits on the amount taken and no money required. In addition, we provide a dedicated email address to nurses at schools in underserved communities and all Veteran organizations that host one of our bins. This allows these organizations to directly request items such as clothing, shoes, jackets, and backpacks for children or Veterans in need. We then deliver or mail these items directly to the school or Veteran organization to be given to the individual in need.
Reuse
Our top priority is to promote the reuse of clothing, shoes, and other textiles to prevent them from ending up in landfills. Along with our community outreaches and programs that provide assistance to those in need, we collaborate with clothing graders, non-profit thrift stores, consignment shops and vintage clothing stores to ensure that items in good condition can be worn again. This accounts for almost 80% of all clothing we divert from landfills. The majority of the items are in excellent condition and can have a second life with someone else to enjoy, just as much as you enjoyed them.
Upcycling
Our top priority is community outreach and reusing items we collect. However, some items may not be suitable for these purposes due to their condition. But don't worry; our mission is to keep textiles out of landfills. That's why we have relationships with some of the largest clothing recyclers in the U.S. who are experts at utilizing worn-out clothing to create new items. Some of the new products that are created from the items that are too worn or damaged to see reuse are new clothing, shoes, bags and countless other items. To see a few of the up-cycled items visit shopbirdieblue.com or this cool article that came out about the new up-cycled Converse sneaker!
Downcycling
We make every effort to ensure that items are either given to those in need, reused, or upcycled. However, there are some items that are so damaged that they cannot be used for their original purpose. These items make up approximately 5% of what we collect, and we downcycle them into industrial wiping rags, insulation, emergency blankets, carpet, and pet bed stuffing. Almost all textiles can be reused or recycled, making it a sustainable solution for the environment.
Start Thinking Differently
Because of the amount of clothing ending up in landfills every year, we need to change the way we think about clothing. We no longer have the luxury of only focusing on making sure our shirt is donated because 85% of shirts are buried in the ground every year.