Many people would be surprised to find out that textile and clothing waste takes up around 5 % of our municipal waste stream. Of these items 95% can be re-use in one way or another, whether it is re-used as second hand clothing, rags or for low-grade fiber products. Recycling clothing is a way to preserve natural resources, and save municipalities the cost of dumping useful items.
Long before Al Gore made it fashionable to be eco-friendly, a group of friends living in NYC came up with the idea for Wearable Collections. We must admit that we had ulterior motives for starting a clothing recycling company.
In November of 2000, one of our partners, Ethan Ruby was struck by a car while crossing Delancey St. in lower Manhattan, leaving him paralyzed from his chest down. This event drastically affected all of our lives. Ethan being a conduit of positive energy, would not let the group wallow in pity. He took a leadership role by becoming the president of the NYC chapter of the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, one of the leading spinal cord injury research facilities in America. We found ourselves constantly brainstorming ideas for fundraising. Being NYC residents ourselves, we were overwhelmed with the amount of waste produced in our city and figured there must be some valuable goods being tossed away daily.
After seeing one of our neighbor’s bags of clothing waiting to be picked up for collection, sitting in the hallway for over a week, a light bulb went off. What if we could bring the convenience that New Yorkers demand to clothing recycling? By placing bins within apartment buildings, residents can now recycle clothing as easy as they can recycle cans and newspapers. Not only are we able to divert textiles from landfills, we are able to raise money for charitable organizations. We believe that this is a winning formula and are proud to be among the businesses making NYC a leader of the Green revolution.
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