According to Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles or SMART, every person gets rid of 70 pounds or more of clothing every year. They also say that more than five percent of landfill content is clothing, blankets, curtains, and other household fabrics. An excellent way to reduce those numbers is for families to recycle their children’s clothing and linens.Baby Buggy is a company that gives donated children’s items and clothing to needy families across the United States.
Blankets
Baby blankets and quilts that children have outgrown are excellent items to recycle because they are very versatile. A blanket is easily given to another child, someone with a new baby, or cut up and sewn into a new blanket for guests. Keepsakes are quick to make by cutting out part of a favorite blanket and framing it with a beautiful quote.
Denim clothing
Anything denim makes a superb recyclable. Crafters on Pinterest and Etsy always come up with unique ideas for denim scraps. People can find potholders, pillows, and even hats made from recycled jeans and denim on marketplaces around the web. Even Amazon has a section for homemade sales. SMART tells readers that recycled denim becomes insulation for homes.
Shirts
Whether a child’s shirt is stained or not is irrelevant, because the back panel and shoulders can always be used to make gloves, sections for a quilt, or another shirt. The old piece can be sewn onto a larger sized shirt to allow children to keep their favorite item a little longer. They can also be turned into purses for little girls.
Because shirts are typically rectangular in shape, the front and back panels are the perfect size for a variety of crafts. Pillows made from shirts is a popular online item for teenage girls. Recycling children’s shirts into a keepsake blanket when they move out on their own is a beautiful sentiment that a child can use as an adult.
Coats and jackets
Any jacket with a broken zipper can easily be fixed by replacing the zipper. Rips can be sewn and buttons replaced. All coats and jackets, short of being shredded to pieces, are helpful to children who do not have warm clothing. Recycling coats is an excellent way to support less fortunate families.
Recycling children’s clothing into stuffed animals or other keepsake items is a magnificent way to keep a childhood memory alive. Donating used clothing to community organizations that help families who have suffered fire, tornado, or become homeless can even count as a tax write-off. SMART says that almost 100 percent of recycled clothing is used to make household wipes, sleeping bags, jewelry box lining, animal beds, baseballs, and dollar bills.