> There is simply no easy, universal guidance for the most Earth-friendly or hassle-free or socially good way for you to dispose of your old clothes<p>But there is. In fact, the answer is right in the setup of the article.<p>> For much of American history [...] most of the population considered the endless accumulation of material goods unseemly,<p>Basically, don't buy so many clothes to begin with. And then you don't have to dispose them.<p>This happens all the time. Looking for a solution to a problem, when the problem shouldn't really even arise in the first place.<p>It's a great slogan, `reduce, reuse, recycle`, but we tend to forget the first two are the most important ones.
"The garment industry has a vested interest in ensuring that the rest of us think of clothing as disposable, or at least mutable. This is especially true of fast-fashion companies, but it's also true for luxury brands, even if they market their products with the promise that they'll last a lifetime."<p>Responsible journalism. +1<p>Currently trying out some "guaranteed for life" hiking socks made in Vermont. No doubt some HN readers will guess the brand. Feeling like maybe I will come to regret it later as they are so densely woven that they neither stretch nor breathe as much as non-guaranteed socks and they take a longer time to dry. But imagine a sock company (hosiery) that sells socks as a "lifetime subscription" that can be fully paid-up at time of purchase and recycles old socks that people send them. This is far better than "fast fashion". Honestly I have no idea if this company recycles old socks, if that is even possible, or if it truly honours the "lifetime guarantee", but their popularity has gotten me thinking.
I wear my clothes and shoes almost until they disintegrate. Some of them are more than two decades old, still good. Harder to find quality stuff that lasts nowadays, but it is possible. Wear cotton and leather, avoid plastics. But then again I an very pretty, tall and slim, wearing old worn out black stuff gives me cool punk rocker / oldschool goth look. I know not everyone can pull this off :)
A bit of a tangent, but...<p>I'm actually quite excited by the implications of the changing economic outlook for the world. Companies are finally catching up with the reality that infinite growth and unending production are not sustainable business models (and a great way to kill your brand via diminishing returns). We might actually get to see a return to quality thinking (in the Juran/Deming sense) where things are actually made to last, not just be discarded and replaced with something new every X days/months/years.<p>Imagine a world/environment where people weren't hopped up on perpetual growth, could actually focus and iterate on an idea for a long(er) time, and a chart going sideways for a quarter or two wasn't coupled with an ulcer. Not only would living conditions improve for a lot of people, quality of life would skyrocket (both material and psychological/emotional).
I wear old clothes when doing yard work or woodworking or metalworking --- by the time I'm done, they're only suited to be cut up for rags, and I have a jar which I clip the buttons into --- if a zipper is YKK and still in good condition I'll cut around it in case I need to replace a zipper on something.<p>I've tried to convince my wife to take up quilting, but she has zero interest, and I don't have the time.
As a guy who has always worn hand-me-downs in child hood and teenage years I wear my clothes out until they are no longer wearable.<p>So I just convert them into rags or toss them in the trash once they have too many tears.
I never really understand these articles and many of their points.<p>The claim gets made that exporting the clothes to developing nations is bad, but it’s usually products made for developing nations that can be low quality from the factory gate.<p>Claims are often made that 2nd hand clothing disrupts a local clothing industry, but in reality, it’s going to be difficult to compete with global manufacturing. Clothing isn’t a strategic industry imo.<p>And cotton is a plant product, nothing wrong with burning or composting it.<p>Clothing probably ranks as one of the most re-used consumer “products”, both by the initial buyer and subsequent buyers.<p>A real issue is crude oil based fabrics and blends and their recyclability and/or emissions when incinerated.<p>For me, old stuff becomes rags, which I’d otherwise have to buy “new”.
I presume polyester or blends could be disposed of via pyrolysis and converted back into oil. Or simply burned for energy.<p>Interestingly, H&M has collected 140,000 tonnes of textiles through an in-store recycling program so far, and they upcycle but also work with a company called Renewcell to generate new fibers from cotton waste. I'm not sure what they do with the rest of the bulk textile but I presume it's burned or maybe just goes to landfill.
All the countries I've lived in during my life (4) have had various types of "boxes" on the street where you can dump clothes, which subsequently gets donated to various organizations that handles giving clothes to people in need.<p>Since I've found this in every country I've lived, I thought this was ubiquitous in the modern world. Am I maybe blinded by my experience here?
Boy that's a first-world problem if I've ever heard of one.<p>Even so, I live in a 1st world nation and both the wife and I buy sturdy functional clothing and, guess what?, it lasts for many years. We use it till it's fit for rags. Then we use the rags.<p>If/when we outgrow it but it's still serviceable it goes to rummage sale or goodwill. Plenty of folks will definitely buy good shoes, jeans, etc. at goodwill - if serviceable these are not going to pollute 3rd world countries and it really helps people. Hell, we shop for good jeans at goodwill, etc. too.<p>If you are having the ethical dilemma about where to donate your worn-once, too cheap, dry-clean-only but super-chic outfits when your closet is overflowing, you are definitely doing it wrong in at least 6 ways. Spoiler alert: the problem is not the goodwill company, the media, or the fashion industry.
Is this a problem everyone has? This is a problem my wife has, and a cause of arguments amongst us.<p>I wear clothes until I get a hole in it. Classically this would be when I would throw it out. I thought this was a waste of money and I have learned to darn (from an HN post no less) - I do not buy clothes until there I a serious gap in my collection, and even then it's usually because my wife has dragged me to the store.
I'm willing to spend, say, 5 or 10x what one would at Uniqlo or Old Navy to buy quality garments that will last a long time and be socially acceptable in upper middle class west coast cliques—i.e., I don't need tailored suits in my world. Where do I go?
This is the latin american flowchart of old clothes<p>Clothes to go out -> Clothes to use only at home -> Sleepwear -> Kitchen cloth<p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@celessalas/video/6951157711803354373?is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=6951157711803354373" rel="nofollow">https://www.tiktok.com/@celessalas/video/6951157711803354373...</a><p>People also use old clothes to make rugs
<a href="https://www.craftpassion.com/recycle-tutorial-woven-rag-rug-2/" rel="nofollow">https://www.craftpassion.com/recycle-tutorial-woven-rag-rug-...</a>
<a href="https://mypoppet.com.au/makes/7-ways-to-make-a-rag-rug-from-old-clothes/" rel="nofollow">https://mypoppet.com.au/makes/7-ways-to-make-a-rag-rug-from-...</a>
A Lot of clothing donation bins are for profit companies that sell the clothing for furniture stuffing.<p>Check out “Clothing Poverty” about the horrible problem the clothing donation industry has been.<p><a href="https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/clothing-poverty-the-hidden-world-of-fast-fashion-and-second-hand-clothes_andrew-brooks/9469628/item/9227854/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrs2XBhDjARIsAHVymmSpXFD1waXDqK-WEgFNQmcOQbAbYe8pcvbA5pD3ZHXzmKLgS8ueKcEaAq6_EALw_wcB#isbn=1783600675&idiq=9227854" rel="nofollow">https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/clothing-poverty-the-hidden-wo...</a><p>Also great episode of Tiny Spark on clothing donation waste.<p><a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/clothing-poverty-andrew-brooks/" rel="nofollow">https://nonprofitquarterly.org/clothing-poverty-andrew-brook...</a>
I learned how to do a so called amish knot at the Oakland Public Library last month. The materials were discarded clothes, sheets, and other cloth. As well as plastic bags and I think there was some plastic cord. It was pretty cool, I only made a small little roundish mat, but you could turn old cloths and plastic bags into little rugs with the technique pretty easily. The woman who was teaching it also noted that it didn't need any tools except for a poker you can make from a paper clip and the scissors (as opposed knitting needles or the hooks for crochet). A local art collective rocks paper scissors has a fiber arts thing once a month in the library, and they bring in sewing machines that anyone can use if you need to fix up your clothes or put together a pattern.
In my opinion, the best way to dispose of Old cloth is to either sell it to the second hand market or give it to someone else.
It's a waste to just throw away old clothes. Now second-hand goods trading is actually more popular than before, especially during the epidemic period, supply chain crisis, more and more people are willing to buy second-hand goods and clothes.<p>Based on a report from CouponBirds, sales in the used market are expected to reach $54 billion in 2022, up more than 50% from $35 billion in 2021. The US second-hand market is set to double to $82 billion by 2026, 16 times faster than the overall fashion retail market.<p>Selling to second-hand dealers and donating, this is the best way I can think of to dispose of old clothes.
AI quilt making vending machine. I don't know what I would do with all the quilts, But I like the idea that all my well worn, too shitty to donate fabrics are neatly folded somewhere. Maybe bed sheets as well?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.<p>I currently own 3 merino T-shirts, one merino hoodie, a few pairs of bamboo and merino underwear, two identical pairs of jeans and a bunch of identical socks.<p>The hoodie is a bit over 5 years old and still in daily use. The jeans are about the same age and I wear them on alternate weeks and don't wash them unless it's necessary.<p>The socks I throw away as soon as they wear through (just single socks, they're all the same). When I run out of socks for my regular wash cycle, I throw them all away and buy a 7-12 pack of new identical ones.
One option is to sell them on a marketplace like <a href="https://www.grailed.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.grailed.com</a> or even just buy your clothes there in the first place to reduce buying brand new. Its cheaper and honestly you might become a bit more stylish in the process.<p>For garments you can't sell like underwear you could also look into recycling them through places like <a href="https://knickey.com/pages/recycle" rel="nofollow">https://knickey.com/pages/recycle</a>
A lot of clothes, including the donated ones end up in landfills like this <a href="https://youtu.be/MHnDqelUh-4?t=90" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/MHnDqelUh-4?t=90</a><p>It's an abomination the fashion industry doesn't get any blame.
In my country we give them to people with lesser means on the streets.
When the winter season gets close some people will start collecting clothes to bring them to people living in the mountains
Give 'em to the rag'n'bone man.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rag_and_bone" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rag_and_bone</a>
If they are unserviceable I throw them in the trash. If they are serviceable, but for some reason no longer useful to me (don't fit, whatever), I donate them to the local men's shelter.