1) What do you currently do with your old, outgrown, out of style clothes? What could you do instead?
2) How is this a world issue? Who could benefit from all of this? Why is it important?
3) Why is it so hard to bring in new programs like this to a community? Do you think Barrie would ever adopt something like this?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/textile-recycling-1.3569138
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ReplyDeleteCurrently, my family saves up all of our old/unwanted/small clothing and gives them away. We saved up all of our clothes for about 10 years until we visited my country, Iran, again, and we stuffed 6 big suit cases full of clothing to give away. We donated all of the clothing – even our baby clothes from 18 years ago – to orphans, to those disabled, and homeless families living in shelters or other facilities. Even with items like torn socks, we always reuse them as rags to clean around the garage, etc. Personally, I think that these methods to extend the lives of unwanted clothing as much as possible are great ways to help.
The clothing industry is known to be the second largest polluter in the world because of the amount of energy, chemicals, dyes, water, and the stripping of natural resources that occur just to produce the fabric that we wear and purchase. All of this harms our environment greatly, not even to mention the amount of destruction caused by shipping/retailing. This is also a big issue because it seems as though many people are carelessly throwing out their unwanted clothing when those less fortunate could be benefitting, all while reducing waste in our landfills. Clothing takes about 3 months up to 80 years to decompose, and many chemicals soaked into the clothing seep into the ground during this time.
I think the idea of recycling clothing, like how we recycle metals, cardboard, etc. in designated areas is a fantastic idea that could significantly reduce the amount of waste and damage caused by these industries. Not only do the wearable clothing items get separated and donated to the less fortunate, but torn and unusable items can also be turned into “rags, certain types of paper, insulation or specialized fibre-based materials used in agriculture, medicine or even diapers.” I really hope that I see something like this in Barrie soon. I don’t think there could be any downsides to this idea, considering that today, we have to try to reuse or recycle just about anything that we can to reduce our footprint.
http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/17/fast-fashion-second-dirtiest-industry/
http://blog.cariloha.com/long-will-clothes-live-landfill/
I agree with Mahshad's opinion on this topic. Clothing is an interesting topic because not only does it go wasted, it often is apart of child slavery. I just recently did a presentation on slavery, and I discovered that a lot of places where we buy our clothing from, uses child slaves. This is very upsetting and can also be apart of how this is a world issue. If we can reuse clothing more and purchase less, then hopefully we can reduce the number of child slaves. With the money we save from reusing clothes, we could use it to help those children in-need. I also hope that we get this initiative in Barrie because I really like the idea.
DeleteI love the story about how you donated your entire life's worth of clothes. I think that for a long time now, people have found it in their hearts to donate their used clothing. I love the new ways that people are thinking about revamping it.
DeleteI agree Mahshad that we should be encouraged to recycle or reuse clothing in some sort of way. By reusing clothes, we will be able to reduce our consumption. My family does not live in a tiny house by any means, however it is small. Because of this, we are forced to de-clutter often. Old clothing is either given away if it is in good repair, or is turned into rags if it is not.
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ReplyDeleteI usually give my old clothes to my sister, and if she grows out of them too, we give it to the salvation army. We do not usually throw out clothes. The only clothes we do throw out is our socks that have holes in them. There are many things I could do instead with my old socks, such as slipping an ice pack into it, working to prevent frostbite, create an armband for your phone, put the sock over the vacuum to pick up things without sucking them up, or use them as doorjambs by filling them with rice, keeping the heat inside. These are just a few examples of what you can use old socks for.
This is a world issue because it is contributing to our waste, the average person generates approximately 4.3 pounds of waste per day. There are ways that this can be prevented, by composting, recycling, reusing. The people who benefits to this are the people getting money from our waste, the companies and corporations that are involved. This is important because there are such little things that everyone can do to cut back on the waste, which could go a long way to saving our planet.
It is hard to bring in programs like this into communities because people are not good with change. It is hard for people to adapt to doing something completely different, I think with the generations aging and new generations coming in all the time, I think it could potentially work in a city like Barrie. The teenage generation right now is incredibly technologically savvy, which allows us to learn new things quicker and easier, which will allow us to adapt more quickly to helping our planet.
https://center.sustainability.duke.edu/resources/green-facts-consumers/how-much-do-we-waste-daily
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20629364_21212779,00.html
I agree with Jaz that many people don't like change so they will always go to habit. I also agree that there are so many uses for old clothes, but not many people think about those uses, just that their clothes aren't good enough anymore. This will really have to change in order for humans to produce less that 4.3 pounds of waste a day. I believe that if little changes were implemented at a time then society could adapt to slowly changing these habits. The only way to know for sure is to try it so I think that society should give it a try.
DeleteI agree with your thoughts on change. Even though we are a very progressive generation, I think that everyone finds change difficult. But, when it is something like what this initiative is, I think people would have an easier time adapting to this. 68.6% of Barrie's population is between the age of 15-60(Statistics Canada), so this is a pro for our region. This age group and younger are said to be more accepting of change. Hopefully, the stats prove us good, and we can adopt this system.
DeleteI was unaware that 68% of our population is between age 15-60, but that is great news to go off on what Jaz said because since we are such a technology based generation it wouldn't be hard for word to get around. The more people who joined in on this effort and make it public makes it easier for others to warm up to the idea.
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ReplyDeleteBeing an older brother all of my outgrown clothing is passed right down to my youngest brother. For my other clothing it is mainly donated unless it is stained or torn in some areas. Something I find very interesting about this article is that people generally only donate their nicest outgrown clothing and won't donate anything with even the tiniest stain. Unfortunately I am one of the people that does this. When I donate my clothes I often think that if I were the one shopping at the Salvation Army I would not purchase a shirt that was stained or torn. However I have never been in a financial situation where I could not buy new clothes. Picturing people in these situations makes me understand that some people don't look for clothes that look good or fit them, they look for clothes that they can afford. I plan to start donating all of my old clothing even if it is ripped now because these clothes may be all that a family can afford.
This is a world issue because so much of our landfill is made up of material objects that we buy but don't necessarily need. Like we've seen in documentaries many of these products end up being burned and create super toxins such as oxide. These super toxins are extremely harmful to our atmosphere and can cause issues such as acid rain, holes in the ozone layer, and climate change.
Everybody would be able to benefit from this type of program. If we are limiting the amount of trash being put into landfills we are helping everyone. Not only that this is also helping low income families that might buy furniture made out of clothing or at least wearing used clothing. This is important because it is helping people, our environment, and our economy. We can make money out of reusing things we don't need anymore and that is incredible.
These initiatives are difficult to bring into cities because they require funding and advertising. One way thing that could be used to help bring these initiatives into light would be community sponsors. Many local businesses rely off of each other to make money and gain attention. By using sponsors I think that there is a good chance people would notice and participate in these types of programs. I could see this coming to Barrie because of Barrie’s range of small businesses.
http://www.m.icopal-noxite.co.uk/nox-problem/nox-pollution.aspx
I can agree with Sam when saying that i usually throw out my clothes that have stains or a small tear because i was unaware that they could be reused. I think that if other people are told that these clothes can be reused even in that condition, then there will be less clothes in the landfill.
DeleteI agree, if people were more informed that their stained or ripped clothing could be reused then they wouldn't be thrown away as often. In this young generation, the environment and recycling is important and I also agree Barrie could benefit from this program because of the large population of youth and small businesses
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ReplyDeleteBeing the youngest child in my family and extended family, I receive all the hand-me-downs. Sometimes by the time I get some clothes they have been through 4 other people in my family! Barrie is a really great place for recycling clothes though because when I do not need something anymore I give them to the Salvation Army, Plato’s closet, Bibles for Missions Thrift Store, and I used to give a lot to goodwill before it closed. My family NEVER just throws out clothes.
This is a world issue because Earth is in such a horrible state due to pollution. Not only does the process of making and shipping these textiles create pollution, discarded clothing fills up landfills. According to the most recent figures from the EPA, in 2010 Americans discarded 13.1 million tons of textiles. Landfills cause Air pollution - emissions into atmosphere, and Ground Water pollution - emissions into water. Wasting clothes and throwing them away can be very destructive in the long run. We do not need more things filling up the few landfills we have left. Definitely the clothing producers benefit from how wasteful we are with clothes.
I think it is hard to bring in programs like this because of the expenses and peoples laziness. Look how long it took for people to adopt the idea of just recycling garbage items. People are so resistant to change and anything that would inconvenience some people who not be accepted by a whole community. I think that Barrie should do something like this. It would make a huge difference on how much we waste and could make a huge positive environmental impact. There is no downside to a program like this. It is easy and would be amazing for our community.
http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Environmental_Problems:_Landfills
http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/01/textile-waste-be-banned-landfills/
I 100% agree with the fact that peoples laziness plays a huge role. I never considered the recycling thing. Im sure if we push this hard enough it could become a part of our daily routine.
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ReplyDeleteWhenever i outgrow clothes there are a few things i will do with them. i will either give them to family friends that have younger kids, donate them to the salvation army or i will donate them to the Kidney Foundation of Canada. My family has always done hand-me-downs with my cousins. they would usually give us their old clothes but i am now a similar size to them and dont fit in most clothes that they dont fit in either. up until the point when i was about 10 my brother and i would practically only wear hand me downs and clothes from value village. it wasnt that my parents couldnt afford new clothes they just thought that it was pointless to spend lots on money on clothes that we will grow out of in 6 months anyways. and it also taught me and my brother that Value Village really is not a terrible option for finding nice clothes, they often have good stuff for cheap.
I think that donating clothes that you dont use anymore or giving them to people that will wear them is very useful for two reasons. it saves people a lot of money especially if you donate it to a place like the salvation army, it will usually go to someone who really is in need. It also saves from a lot of waste of people constantly throwing out old clothes that they didnt fit into anymrore.
I think it would be worth it for Barrie to try a program like this but i am not sure how receptive the community would be to it.
mark this one: I currently give my old clothes to a family friend that I used to be neighbours with. They have a grand daughter a few years younger than me. Instead I could give it to someone that is in more need, but I like knowing that she does need them and is very appreciative of the clothes. The clothes could also be made into new items. I could probably make a dog toy or little household cleaner type things with them.
ReplyDeleteThis is a world issue because it produces a ridiculous amount of unnecessary waste in landfills. The average american throws away 65 pounds of clothes each year. The amount of pollution due to shipping and producing this clothes is unreal. It takes a long time for clothes to decompose. They can also do a lot of harm to animals; they could choke or get stuck in clothes.
It's hard to bring a program like this to new places because it's hard to get people to do stuff when there's an easy option (just throwing out your clothes). It's also difficult to fund things like this because who wants to pay for something you can just throw out. I think it could work in a city like Barrie if we gave it time. Some parents/adults would go for it right away, but others wouldn't and we can only hope through education and promotion that their kids would catch on. Eventually it would become the norm.
http://www.care2.com/causes/how-many-clothes-do-you-throw-away-every-year.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/where-does-discarded-clothing-go/374613/
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ReplyDeleteTextiles and clothing is something that all of us need, and depending on your lifestyle, they are also something that digs a serious hole in your wallet. As of 2014, the average Canadian household spent 3,503 dollars on clothing and accessories annually. If we are spending so much on clothing, why are we so quick to throw it away as trash when it could be reused for something useful. I too am guilty of this, as of right now when my clothing either no longer fits or I just don’t like it anymore, it sits in a pile in my closet untouched. I don’t throw away the materials but they sit and collect dust, being completely useless. This leads to another problem of having too much stuff simply for the sake of having it. Instead of hoarding all of my things I could either fix the holes and other imperfections in clothing that isn’t too ugly to be seen in public with, or just donate everything. People could save clothing scraps and use them for arts and crafts, or as rags, or as literally anything. It is a waste of space in the landfill for things that can so easily be used again. This is a world issue because the more filled up the local landfill is, the less space there is for future garbage, which means that garbage will need to be discarded in a new location. This greatly affects the environment and the cleanliness of our earth. It is also a world issue because it perpetuates the cycle of poverty in other countries. Small children in developing nations are paid next to nothing in the factories making the clothes that are being thrown away like trash, increasing the need for child labour in our capitalistic system. It is so hard to bring programs like this into the community because society as a whole has a tendency to shy away from change. Every progressive worldview that is commonplace now only got here with decades upon decades upon decades of introducing new things. It would take time for people to get used to not throwing out old clothes if that’s what they’ve always done. I think Barrie may introduce something like this in the future, but maybe not in the significantly soon future because our municipality already has a lot on its plate.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil130a-eng.htm
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ReplyDeleteTextiles and clothing is something that all of us need, and depending on your lifestyle, they are also something that digs a serious hole in your wallet. As of 2014, the average Canadian household spent 3,503 dollars on clothing and accessories annually. If we are spending so much on clothing, why are we so quick to throw it away as trash when it could be reused for something useful. I too am guilty of this, as of right now when my clothing either no longer fits or I just don’t like it anymore, it sits in a pile in my closet untouched. I don’t throw away the materials but they sit and collect dust, being completely useless. This leads to another problem of having too much stuff simply for the sake of having it. Instead of hoarding all of my things I could either fix the holes and other imperfections in clothing that isn’t too ugly to be seen in public with, or just donate everything. People could save clothing scraps and use them for arts and crafts, or as rags, or as literally anything. It is a waste of space in the landfill for things that can so easily be used again. This is a world issue because the more filled up the local landfill is, the less space there is for future garbage, which means that garbage will need to be discarded in a new location. This greatly affects the environment and the cleanliness of our earth. It is also a world issue because it perpetuates the cycle of poverty in other countries. Small children in developing nations are paid next to nothing in the factories making the clothes that are being thrown away like trash, increasing the need for child labour in our capitalistic system. It is so hard to bring programs like this into the community because society as a whole has a tendency to shy away from change. Every progressive worldview that is commonplace now only got here with decades upon decades upon decades of introducing new things. It would take time for people to get used to not throwing out old clothes if that’s what they’ve always done. I think Barrie may introduce something like this in the future, but maybe not in the significantly soon future because our municipality already has a lot on its plate.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil130a-eng.htm
Mark This One: For as long as I can remember I have received hand-me-downs from older cousins, and family friends. Now, my younger sister’s closet consists of 80% of my old clothes. We always find a way to get the most use out of the clothes we no longer wear. When the articles of clothing have reached their last wear they have usually gone through at least 3 people. If not handed down we always donate to organizations such as the salvation army, and value village. This is a world issue because approximately 12 million tons of material waste is produced each year in North America amounting to approximately 68 lbs of waste per household per year! Our landfill is already way larger than it needs to be, and with so many people throwing out perfectly usable clothing just because it isn’t “in style” anymore, or no longer fits them only contributes to this massive problem. I had a friend in elementary school who threw out a pair of brand new jeans because she no longer liked them.. This amazed me because I have always been taught to get the most use out of everything I can and if i can’t use it, to give it someone else to use it. Everybody can benefit from this type of program because if we limit the amount of waste that is put into landfills we are helping low income families that could buy this furniture made out of old clothing or wear the used clothing. This is important because it is helping people in our own community, the environment, and the economy. I have travelled to countries where they are forced to make the most out of everything they have, whether that means wearing the same 2 stained, hole filled t-shirts over and over, or improvising to make broken furniture work for them. I think if we can make more uses for the things we would regularly just discard of we can benefit greatly. I think the reason why programs like this one can be so difficult to bring into communities because firstly, people do not react well to change, and it is a new idea which requires actual effort and in today’s day in age laziness is too common; throwing it out requires so much less work. Another reason why this could be difficult is because it will cost money to run it. I definitely think that Barrie could adopt something like this in the future because it can do no harm, the worst result is it fails, but the best is that it catches on and becomes successful.
ReplyDeletehttp://learn.eartheasy.com/2010/05/lets-keep-clothing-out-of-our-landfills/#sthash.B2SSZzpc.dpuf
http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Environmental_Problems:_Landfills
Please mark this one :
ReplyDeleteI believe clothing waste is one of the
most overlooked world issues because many people don't understand how much work and distribution is involved in the business and how much pollution it
causes. Clothes also take up a lot of space in landfills and it is considered the easy
way out when you have old clothes lying around that are useless to you.
I personally either give old clothes to
charity or offer them to younger family members before I do.
I think Barrie would be open to a program like this, Barrie already does pretty well
with recycling used clothing, especially with places like the Salvation Army and Platos closet. I think the only issues with the program would be funding.
mark this one: As of right now my family and I donate our clothes to thrift shops but when we were young and out grew our stuff all of our younger cousins would get first pick. Generally now the only time I get rid of clothes is if they rip or get weirdly stained. In that case I usually throw them out. Instead I should do some cool DIY and make a hammock out of old tee's. This is a world issue because the clothing industry is probably #1 in pollution if you consider everything that goes into it. On top of that child labor which is so wrong and we all contribute to it. Textile recycling is such a great idea. I believe we should reuse as much as possible. Im sure lots of people feel the same way but it could be hard getting people on board. As simple as the idea is, majority might not be able to find the time to go drop off their textiles and with the little time they might have they are probably too lazy or tired. I think barrie already has those boxes around the city. I know there is an old clothes donation box in the zhers plaza right by my house.
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ReplyDeleteCurrently with the clothes which I’ve outgrown, I usually pass them on to my younger cousins or I donate them to value village/salvation army. Sometimes if the clothes are worn out I throw them away. Instead I think that could be donation them even if they are worn out because there may be people who could still use them or make them into new items. I think that I could also be making new items with my old clothes that I throw out.
There are serious economic and environmental consequences that are the result of the massive trashing of clothes. According to eco goodz website, the average charge associated with a single ton of clothing dumped in a landfill is approximately $100, which means that taxpayers have the potential to save more than $1 billion every year by keeping old clothes out of landfills.
When clothes are buried in landfills they not only take up space in the earth, but have other negative impacts, which include soil contamination and the release of unpleasant odors. If they are not sent to be buried then they are eradicated in an enormous incinerator. This may sound like the better option to everyone but the process releases large amounts of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change and global warming. According to statistics, it is possible to recycle more than 90 percent of the clothes that are discarded. Many people (including myself) falsely assume that if an item is worn or stained then it’s not usable, but by reading this article and researching I have found this to be untrue. The majority of these products can be reused in a number of different ways, as seen in the article.
I think it would be difficult to bring these projects into communities just because everyone is stuck in their own routine and they do not like change. As we were talking about in class, when green bins were tried out in London for about a month, nobody used them so they just stopped the program. I think that this may also be the case in Barrie.
http://ecogoodz.com/what-happens-to-those-old-clothes-you-throw-away/
When i have old and worn out clothing, I usually hand them down to my younger sister, and when she does want them or out grows them , we donate them. Other things I could do with them is use them as rags. This is a world issue because the clothes that go landfills further pollutes the Earth, causing serious consequences for both developed and developing countries. It would be difficult to bring this program into communities, including Barrie, due to the fact that not a lot of people would take part as most would continue their regular patterns.
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