How To Sustainably Recycle Eco-Friendly Clothes

Earth is our home, and taking care of it helps protect the environment and the creatures we share it with. As you go through the cycle of purging and adding to your wardrobe, take some precautionary steps to help our planet. By purchasing garments made with natural materials and properly disposing of old clothes, you’re off to an incredible start. Keep reading this blog to find out how to sustainably recycle eco-friendly clothes!

What Is Eco-Friendly Clothing?

Many of us love buying new clothes to treat ourselves. Fashion is a form of self-expression, so our colors and styles reflect our personalities. The problem is that some brands use fast fashion to pump out more products; this is bad for our environment and often provides workers with unfair wages. Most of these brands also use synthetic materials, which harm our world during manufacturing and take decades to break down in landfills. 

On the other hand, eco-friendly brands create less apparel but use higher-quality, natural materials. Fabrics such as cotton, wool, linen, and silk all decompose more quickly than synthetic materials and cause less harm to the planet since they’re natural. Many eco-friendly brands also put the well-being of our world and their workers first to ensure they put little strain on the earth to make a profit. 

7 Ways To Sustainably Recycle Clothing

Eventually, we all hit points where we need to go through our wardrobe and sort what clothing we’ll keep versus part with. Fortunately, there are many ways to sustainably recycle eco-friendly clothes to help keep our planet beautiful. Here are some amazing ways you can support our earth while also emptying your wardrobe: 

• Planning a clothing swap
• Selling unwanted apparel
• Donating to charity
• Using garments as hand-me-downs
• Creating keepsakes
• Composting old apparel
• Finding a textile recycling center

The information below provides more details on these methods. 

Organize a Clothing Swap

One way to part with old apparel while adding to your wardrobe is to trade with fellow women. As you gather your unwanted clothing, reach out to friends and relatives who are your size and see if they want to partake in a clothing swap. Everyone involved can bring garments and trade what they don’t want for something they do.

Lay out group rules, such as taking turns trading, so everyone feels they get a fair deal by the end of the swap.

Mama Tip

You can also do a clothing swap with old or unwanted baby clothes. Some of your mom friends or neighbors may have kiddos older than yours, while others have younger children. You all can trade baby, toddler, and child clothing to upgrade your little cub’s wardrobe. 

Sell Unwanted Apparel

Selling apparel is perfect if you want to make a bit of cash while emptying your wardrobe. Online websites such as Poshmark allow users to create listings of old clothing and accessories to make money. Any garment you sell should be in good shape and free from holes, rips, or other obvious signs of wear. 

Donate to Charity

Looking to do more good work for your community? Donating to charity allows you to recycle unwanted clothing while helping the economically disadvantaged. Buying new clothes is expensive, and some people can’t afford it.

As with selling clothing, any apparel you donate should be of good quality. Charities do not want garments that are worn out, stained, damaged, or musty.

Use Garments as Hand-Me-Downs

Got kids’ clothes you don’t want to part with? You can always hang on to special items to use as hand-me-downs for the next little one. For the time being, store the unneeded items in a small bin that you can keep under a bed or in a closet. This way, you don’t waste space on the rack. 

Create Keepsakes 

You may also have clothing that, although you don’t want to part with, you don’t have plans to use as hand-me-downs. In this instance, get crafty and make a keepsake with the apparel. You can make a quilt with old shirts or buy a pattern to create a stuffed animal with unwanted clothing. What’s amazing about this option is you can use it for the apparel of anyone in the family, from yours to your baby’s!

Compost Old Apparel 

The great thing about apparel made only with natural material is that it can break down. If you have a garden, consider turning heavily worn-out pieces into compost!

Before doing so, remove all tags, zippers, and buttons—anything aside from the fabric. Next, tear the items into small pieces and intermix 25 percent cloth with 50 percent scraps from fruits, veggies, and grass cuttings. The final 25 percent should be “brown materials,” such as wood chips and twigs; the clothing also serves as brown materials.

Find a Textile Recycling Center 

If you don’t want to compost but have items that aren’t in a condition to sell, reuse, or donate, then you can also locate your nearest textile recycling center. Bringing apparel here keeps it separate from the regular trash so companies can properly dispose of it. 

Tips for Buying Eco-Friendly Apparel

Purchasing the right clothing is crucial to sustainability and ensures you only buy eco-friendly apparel. Research clothing brands and put quality over quantity to make the buying process simple.

Read About Brand Reputation

If you shop online for clothing, research the company’s website to find out how they give back to our world. Companies like Beachwood Baby plant a tree in the rainforest for every marketplace item sold to preserve the earth’s beauty. The best businesses don’t just say they’re sustainable; they also explain what they do to prove it.

Buy Quality Over Quantity

Eco-friendly fashion is about putting quality over quantity because better-made clothes last longer. This is important because buying clothes only as necessary encourages less need to manufacture new apparel, which helps keep our world green.

As you investigate brands, read through customer reviews to get the best idea of clothing quality. Well-cared-for apparel made of linen, wool, cotton, or other natural materials lasts through years of consistent wear. Avoid garments made with synthetic materials, such as polyester, rayon, or spandex; you can find this information in the product description or on the item’s tag.

Shop at Beachwood Baby

At Beachwood Baby, you can purchase sustainable apparel perfect for every mama! We have various wardrobe staples, such as women’s linen jumpsuits, that you can wear during every stage of pregnancy and after your little cub is born. Keeping the earth beautiful for our children is important to us, which is why our small business makes all our clothing with natural materials. Help keep our world clean by joining the efforts of sustainable fashion.