My cousin sent me this text message the other day.
It is a good question and while there are plenty of places in the Chicagoland area where you can bring your gently used clothing, there are not so many places to drop off clothing and textiles that are longer wearable or useful.
The U.S. EPA has found that 85% of all discarded textiles (that’s 12 million tons) are sent to landfills every single year.
USAgain
USAgain has drop-off collection bins all around the city. They accept clothes, shoes and household textiles (like towels, bedding, tablecloths, etc) regardless of condition.
Chicago Textile Recycling
Chicago Textile Recycling provides textile recycling outlets and fundraising opportunities for organizations, businesses, and municipalities. They collect used clothing, shoes, and household items for reuse and recycling, resulting in a diversion of over 2.5 million pounds of waste from area landfills annually.
Unfortunately, they don’t have as many drop-off options as USAgain does within Chicago and Cook County (as in they have zero). There is a drop-off box at their warehouse in Hillside just outside the city and about 20 locations within Lake County.
Patagonia Worn Wear
Through the Patagonia Worn Wear Program, you can return Patagonia products that are well beyond repair to be recycled it into something new, or repurposed, by bringing it to a local store or mailing it in.
The North Face Clothes the Loop
The North Face Clothes the Loop allows you to bring in used apparel and footwear of any condition or brand and receive a $10 reward towards your next purchase of $100 or more. Items are repurposed for reuse to extend their life or recycled into raw materials for use in products like insulation, carpet padding, stuffing for toys, and fibers for new clothing.
Other Options:
- Cut clothing/fabric into cleaning rags
- PAWs Chicago and The Anti-Cruelty Society accept towels
- For gym shoes that are beyond salvageable, Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe will turn them into Nike Grind materials for floor surfaces and new products
waste not want not 