The Story of Wearable Collections
At the beginning of the 2000s, Americans were creating more textile waste than ever before. Between 1960 and 2000, the volume of discarded textiles (mainly used clothing and shoes) in the municipal solid waste stream increased by over 80% (EPA, “Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling”).
2004: Wearable Collections is founded when a group of friends in NYC came up with an idea to save clothing from the landfill. The idea was sparked when neighbor’s bag of clothes sat in the hall all week, waiting to be picked up for collection.
But the motivation for the idea began elsewhere. Earlier that year, one of our founders, 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 was a conduit of positive energy and did not let us 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. In that bag of clothes, and the waste all around us as New Yorkers, we saw the huge potential of converting the city’s waste into something of value.
Within this year, we dropped our first bin in a building—a basic laundry cart.
2006: We upgraded our bins, complete with Wearable Collections canvas covers.
2009: We established a partnership with GrowNYC, the city’s largest and most established environmental organization. Today, that partnership allows us to collect textiles and clothing at 31 Greenmarkets throughout the city.
In the same year, we collected discarded clothing from NYC Marathon Runners and hit our first million pounds collected.
2010: We established partnerships with Columbia University and Stony Brook University on Long Island, collecting waste regularly from their campuses, especially during move-out periods.
2010: We hosted our largest drive ever, collecting 13,452 pounds in Hopewell Valley, NJ.
2013: Eight years after we put bins in buildings to collect textile waste, DSNY founded the Brown Bin Program for organics collection.
2014: We upgraded our bins once again, rolling out our first batch of steel bins.
2015: We began our partnership with the NYC Department of Education’s Department of Sustainability, working with them to place bins and host drives in public schools throughout the city.
2015: We hit 10 million pounds collected!
Between 2000-2015, global clothing production approximately doubled, while the rate of utilization—the average number of times a garment is worn before reaching the landfill—declined around the world (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “A new textiles economy: Redesigning fashion’s future,” 2017).
2017: We introduced our first plastic covered bins.
2019: We began offering solutions for corporate partners in the apparel and fashion industry who need help recycling and reusing goods from the production side.
We reached 6 million pounds in our Greenmarket collections alone.
We also provided a second round of steel collection bins for buildings.
2020: We will surpass 20,000,000 collected!
Press Coverage
2019
Fast fashion and environmentalism – Clashing trends?
“How to Dispose of Clothes Responsibly”– The average American throws away 80 lbs of clothing every year — whether you want to resell, donate, or recycle, here’s how to get rid of your clothes in an eco-friendly way
“We recycle, we up-cycle, we down-cycle, is it working?” – A panel discussion during Texworld trade fair provides a status report on the fields of recycling and up-cycling, both of which seem to be having their moment in the sun, are at the center of circularity conversations and all over international runways.
2018
“Bold Biz: Adam Baruchowitz From Wearable Collections on Turning Waste into Fashion”– Adam Baruchowitz, CEO of Wearable Collections, tells us how we can limit our waste by recycling our clothing.
“How To Recycle Old Clothing (Even Ratty Ass Old Underwear)”– There are tons of amazing sustainable resources and organizations that will take your too-far-gone clothing, accessories and textile items, and repurpose them for other uses. Uses like making home insulation, pillow stuffing, car seat stuffing, and even “new” fabric made from recycled fibers
“#BroCleanBKLN Ep. 6 – Wearable Collections”– Wearable Collections is an NYC based company focused on keeping clothing, textiles, and shoes out of landfills while generating funds for charities.
“5 Ways We Make Moving Green”- Old clothes and shoes get bundled in our reusable bags and are dropped off at our partner, Wearable Collections, a clothing recycling company that diverts textiles from landfills.
“1 Million Pound Partnership”– GLOBAL FASHION EXCHANGE proudly supports WEARABLE COLLECTIONS and their efforts to keep clothing out of landfills. Together we work to raise awareness and divert 1 Million Pounds of fashion waste at our GLOBAL GFX Swaps and collection sites in New York State.
2017
“The Tricky Business of Recycling Your Old Clothes”– I’m making the rounds with Wearable Collections, a textile recycling company in New York City. According to the nonprofit Council for Textile Recycling the U.S. sends about 21 billion pounds of textile waste to landfills every year.
2016
“10 Fashion Brands Innovating with Textile Waste”– Wearable Collections does for textile waste what compost pickup does for food scraps, placing collection bins for textiles in apartment buildings. Individuals can request bins and can also sign up to host textile collection drives, helping to keep textile waste out of landfills and repurpose it instead.
“Wearable Collections is a For-Profit Clothing Recycling Company”– Wearable Collections is an eco-friendly NYC clothing recycling company that aims to make the recycling of clothing as convenient as recycling a newspaper.
2014
“New York City’s Wearable Collections: ‘Clothing is Not Garbage’”– It is easy to toss outfits in the garbage, but let’s think green and recycle our textiles. If you live in the New York City area, Wearable Collections is the textile recycling program you are looking for. The company is all about making clothing recycling accessible for New York residents.
“Can Worn or Damaged Clothing be Donated?”– Wearable Collections Clothing Recycling in New York City, for example, places clothing recycling bins in apartment buildings throughout the city to make the process easy for residents. They also host collection events in the community, and a portion of their proceeds go to charitable partners.
"Moving and Recycling"
2013
2012
“Who Cares: Adam Baruchowitz – Wearable Collections”– Yoxi interviews Adam Baruchowitz from Wearable Collections about clothing recycling in New York City.
“HuffPost Greatest Person Of The Day: Adam Baruchowitz, Founder Of Wearable Collections, NY Clothing Recycling Company”– Adam Baruchowitz, a 38-year-old New Yorker, had an “aha” moment when he saw a bag full of clothes intended for a charitable organization sitting outside an apartment in the building where he lived. The bag sat there for a week before someone came to pick it up.
“The Worn, The Torn, The Wearable: textile recycling in Union Square”– This narrative focuses on one aspect of the growing phenomenon of textile recycling: the act of “getting rid of” one’s no longer wanted clothing. The story here derives from many visits to Wearable Collections, a business that collects apparel (as well as towels, sheets, shoes, and other textiles) with an “inlet” at the popular Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan.
2011
“Wearable Collections on CBS 2 NYC”
“Wearable Collections for NYU Tonight”– New Yorkers throw away millions of pounds of clothes every year. One company has found a way to make textile recycling easy and convenient.
“CNN: NY company recycles old clothes”– A company makes it easy for people to recycle clothing and keep it out of the landfill. CNN’s Stephanie Elam reports.
“New York to implement clothing recycling program”– Starting in September, New York City will launch one of the largest textile recycling initiatives in the nation. The aim is to make it easy to donate clothing, almost as easy as throwing it away.
“Don’t Toss That Old Shirt. They’ll Pick It Up.”– Textile recycling is already happening in some of the most elegant apartment buildings in the city.
“Wearable Collections on ABC 7 NYC”
2010
“WearableTrash”– An overview of Wearable Collections clothing recycling on Voices of America.
“‘Ecopreneurs’ see the green in green”– Adam Baruchowitz, founder and CEO of Wearable Collections, takes something that most of us give away our old clothes and not only keeps them useful by finding a new home for them, but simultaneously helps needy organizations raise funds.
2009
“How to Make a Blanket Backpack, Earth Day, Threadbanger”– First off, we are taking a ride with the guys who started a really amazing project called Wearable Collections.
“WEARABLE COLLECTIONS: Recycled Clothing Initiative”– Wearable Collections, a non-profit charity initiative, is leading the crusade to reduce textile waste in a city traditionally known for disposable, seasonal styles. The organization is placing recycling bins in designated buildings throughout New York City for the collection of unwanted garments and clothing.
“WEARABLE COLLECTIONS CLOTHING RECYCLING”- Recognizing that discarded clothing makes up six percent of household waste—386 million tons of the stuff—in New York City alone, Wearable Collections latched on to a novel solution. Rather than dump trash-bags full of used clothing (much of it still decent but obsolete to the owner) in a New Jersey landfill, why not export it to South America where it could be put to some use?
2008
“Wearable Collections NYC Clothing Recycling Project”– New Yorkers, if you missed Swap-O-Rama-Rama this year, yet still have good quality clothing that you need to get rid of the social enterprise, Wearable Collections will come and pick it up for you this Saturday, October 28th.