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We Earthlings: Green Your Wardrobe

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We Earthlings: Green Your Wardrobe

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How to Responsibly Dispose of Old Clothes

Did you know that the typical?lifetime of a piece of clothing in an American’s closet is just?3 years??The average American throws away 70 pounds of textile waste annually; and just 15 percent of this actually gets recycled. The rest? You guessed it: landfill.

When we think of waste piling up in our landfills and our oceans, we typically envision things like plastic straws, broken electronics and dirty diapers ??not perfectly wearable clothing. But unwanted garments actually make up 5 percent of all landfills in the United States…

It’s shameful, really. And totally unnecessary!

If you’re used to?bagging up all your old clothes and dropping them off on the doorstep of your local thrift store, know that there?are other ways!?Even in the case of decade-old underwear and paint-stained t-shirts, there?are textile recyclers that will take them. Let’s take a?look at the options that are out there.

How to responsibly dispose of
clothing and textiles

What to do with clothing that is?current, but doesn’t fit or doesn’t suit you

Resell it! Recycling clothing doesn’t necessarily mean shipping it off to get broken down and remade into new fibers.?It can also include selling (and purchasing) gently used items from the secondhand market.

If you have items in great condition and want to make a little extra cash, consider one of these three options:

  1. Take clothing to your local consignment shop. They’ll put your items on the rack and, once they sell, pay you a cut of the earnings. It’s easy and a great way to support local business!
  2. Send clothing to an online reseller like thredUP.?Earn cash or store credit for items you’re no longer wearing. They’ll ship back or responsibly recycle anything they don’t think will sell.
  3. Resell clothing in your own online boutique.?Take pictures of your gently used items and post on platforms like Poshmark, eBay, Mercari or?The RealReal. Get cash each time you make a sale, minus a small percentage that goes to the platform host.

What to do with clothing?that is?dated, but still in wearable condition

Donate or upcycle?it! Thrift stores, community centers, homeless shelters and charity shops can use?your unwanted clothing to?support people and fund valuable programs. Just make sure that there is an actual need for the items you’re dropping off! This is really important.

Also, when you donate clothing, make sure it’s actually in usable, wearable condition. Many shops have policies that disallow unacceptable items like old socks or?torn up sweaters, forcing them?to send unwearable clothing to landfill. That just defeats the whole purpose!

Feeling crafty? Repurpose worn out t-shirts into cleaning rags, sew your jeans into a tote, and make drawstring produce bags from whatever’s left.

What to do with clothing that?can’t be used in its current condition

If?the clothing?you are trying to get rid of just aren’t suitable for reselling, donating or upcycling, consider shipping them to textile recycling programs like these:

Terracycle Fabrics
The Bra Recyclers
Soles 4 Souls
Wearable Collections?(NYC)
Green Tree (NYC)
GemText (PNW)
Don’t Let Fashion Go to Waste (H&M)
Reuse-A-Shoe (Nike)
Common Threads (Patagonia)
Clothes the Loop (The North Face)

Not what you were looking for??Check out these resources for more information:

Council for Textile Recycling
Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles
Donation Town

Well, there you have it! Everything you needed to know about keeping your clothing out of the waste cycle and back into productive use. Have questions about all this? Leave them in the comments!

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How to Responsibly Dispose of Old Clothes

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8 Green Wardrobe & Fashion Tips

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8 Green Wardrobe & Fashion Tips

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7 of The Germiest Places in Your Home – And What to Do About Them

You may already approach public toilets or street food vendors with caution, but harmful bacteria can be much closer to home. Hotspots throughout your home can act as unintentional breeding grounds for dangerous pathogens.

Read on to discover some of the most high-risk areas and how to keep germs out of your home for good.

1. Kitchen Sponges

An NSF International study found that kitchen sponges topped the list of the dirtiest places in your home. The warm, wet conditions in an ordinary kitchen sponge create a haven for harmful microorganisms to multiply. To make matters worse, these pathogens get spread throughout your kitchen as you wipe counters, sinks and cutting boards with your sponge. Kitchen sponges are a serious enough health threat that the FDA banned their use in commercial kitchens.

Cleaning and Safety Tips

If you?d like to keep your kitchen sponge, check out these ways to keep your sponge clean. But, overall, the best way to prevent sponge contamination is to stop using them. Dish cloths or rags make good replacements because they dry faster, which makes them less likely to grow bacteria. Hang them out flat after each use and let them dry thoroughly before using again. Have a few cloths in rotation so you always have a dry cloth handy.

2. Kitchen Sink

Your kitchen sink can breed germs almost as well as your kitchen sponge. It?s where you wash harmful bacteria and other pathogens off your fresh food, but they don?t all go down the drain. Some collect and multiply in your sink?s damp and inviting environment. One study found coliform bacteria in almost half of the kitchen sinks they sampled. Coliform bacteria, such as Salmonella and E. coli, are bacteria that originate in feces.

Cleaning and Safety Tips

Wash your sink thoroughly at least twice a week. Scrub it with a brush to get off any encrusted bacteria first, then spray your sink, taps, faucet and brush with a disinfectant. Let the disinfectant sit for at least 10 minutes before rinsing off.

3. Coffee Makers

The reservoir in your coffee maker is another surprizing source of bacteria. Its moist and dark conditions make it ideal for germs. Yeast and mold have been found in 50 percent of household coffee maker reservoirs. Also, coliform bacteria are present in about one in ten coffee makers.

Cleaning and Safety Tips

Follow the cleaning instructions on your coffee maker, which typically recommend to add equal parts white vinegar and water to your reservoir, let it sit for half an hour, then brew the solution. Do this about every month to keep mold and bacteria to a minimum. The carafe, lid and filter basket should be cleaned daily.

4. Kitchen Countertops

Your kitchen countertops are exposed to a host of nasty germs carried on the bottoms of grocery bags, purses, backpacks, electronics and even pets. This is also where you prepare the majority of your food, so it?s vital to avoid any cross-contamination.

Cleaning and Safety Tips

Keep non-food items off your kitchen counter and disinfect it after preparing any fresh food. Follow the manufacturer?s recommendations on how to clean your countertop properly, depending on the type of material it?s made from.

5. Toothbrushes and Toothbrush Holders

Toothbrushes pick up bacteria from your mouth and provide a safe, damp environment for them to multiply. If that?s not icky enough, they can also pick up airborne germs that are released when you flush your toilet. A 2012 study found that the bacterium Clostridium difficile can be sprayed 25 centimeters (nearly 10 inches) above the toilet if you flush without closing the lid.

Cleaning and Safety Tips

Make sure your toothbrush and holder are in a well-ventilated area so they can dry out as quickly as possible. It?s recommended to run your toothbrush and holder through the dishwasher once a week, as well as get a new toothbrush at least every three months. And, of course, always close the lid before flushing your toilet.

6. Washing Machine

You may not think of your laundry as a potential source of bacteria, but research has found that the average person?s underwear contains about a tenth of a gram of fecal matter. Another disturbing fact is that germs are not killed in a washing machine. If one item of clothing contains bacteria, viruses or other contaminants, these will spread to 90 percent of the other clothing during the wash cycle. Washing in hot water won?t really help either, as most germs can survive in hot water.

Cleaning and Safety Tips

The only way to get your clothes hot enough to kill bacteria and other pathogens is to put them in a dryer for at least half an hour on high heat. You can also dry them in the sun because ultraviolet light will destroy bacteria. Wipe the inside and outside of your washing machine with a disinfectant after each use, especially if anyone in your household is sick. And run your empty washing machine with water and bleach, or other disinfectant, at least once a month.

7. Reusable Shopping Bags

A University of Arizona study found that 97 percent of people surveyed never washed their reusable bags. And this is a problem. The study also randomly tested 84 reusable bags collected from shoppers in Tucson, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Over half the bags contained many strains of harmful bacteria, including coliform bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli. Researchers pointed out that these bacteria are especially dangerous for young children, as their immune systems are still developing.

Cleaning and Safety Tips

Designate certain bags to use only for fresh food, then label separate bags for fresh produce, raw meat and other fresh foods. Wash these bags after every use, dry them in your dryer and never use them for packaged foods or purposes such as carrying books or clothing.

Related on Care2

How to Make a Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit
10 Spring Cleaning Tasks That Will Make Your Home Healthier
The Art of Kaizen: How to Trick Your Brain Into Being Motivated

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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7 of The Germiest Places in Your Home – And What to Do About Them

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Yoga Pants Are Surprisingly Harmful

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Yoga Pants Are Surprisingly Harmful

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How to defuse the methane timebomb in the Arctic? Unleash the mammoths!

When Rebecca Burgess was working in villages across Asia, she saw the impacts of the clothing industry firsthand: waste, pollution, widespread health problems. But in these same communities, from Indonesia to Thailand, Burgess also saw working models of local textile production systems that didn’t harm anyone. She was inspired to build a sustainable clothing system — complete with natural dye farms, renewable energy-powered mills, and compostable clothes — back home in the United States.

The result is Fibershed, a movement to build networks of farmers, ranchers, designers, ecologists, sewers, dyers, and spinners in 54 communities around the world, mostly in North America. They are ex-coal miners growing hemp in Appalachia and workers in California’s first wool mill. In five years, Burgess plans to build complete soil-to-soil fiber systems in north-central California, south-central Colorado, and eastern Kentucky.

People have asked her, “This has already left to go overseas — you’re bringing it back? Are you sure?” She is. Mills provide solid, well-paying jobs for people “who can walk in off the street and be trained in six months,” Burgess says. “This is all about dressing human beings at the end of the day, in the most ethical way that we can, while providing jobs for our home communities and keeping farmers and ranchers on the land.”


Meet all the fixers on this year’s Grist 50.

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How to defuse the methane timebomb in the Arctic? Unleash the mammoths!

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3 Easy DIY Repairs for Broken Zippers

You go to pull up the zipper andoh dear. The slider part is attached to only one side; or you think you’ve zipped but then the thing unzips from the bottom. Or even worse, the whole zipper slider slides off entirely. What to do? I have always relied on the fidget-and-force-until-frustration-sets-in method and then tried fixing things with safety pins and generally end up shelving the garment until I am ready to frustrate myself again or take it to the tailors. How shortsighted I have been! I fancy myself as Lady MacGyver, I relish in fixing things, but somehow I have let zippers slide. Or not slide, as the case may be.

But then I met the zipper whisperer. Well actually I didn’t really meet him and as far as I know I’m the only one who has called him the zipper whisperer, but I stumbled into the YouTube channel for zipper manufacturersUCAN Zippersand I’m a changed woman. Said zipper whisperer, Hyrum Mai, is one of the two brothers who run this LA-based zipper emporium and in the video series “Everyone Loves Zippers” he showshow to repair everythingfrom a broken sweater zipper to a malfunctioning cosmetic bag zipper. The following are three of the most common problems (and the ones that this now-zipper-master can tackle).

1. A zipper that doesn’t close correctly

You pull the zipper up, and it splits open from the bottom. Over and over. Embarrassing.

2. A zipper with a slider that has come off

When you zip up and the sliding mechanism and tab zip right on off! This may seem unfixable, but nope.

3. A zipper with the slider on one side

With enough jimmying you might be able to kind of imperfectly repair this, but the faux fix is generally temporary and can lead to a repetitive case of XYZ.

Written by Melissa Breyer. Reposted with permission from TreeHugger.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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3 Easy DIY Repairs for Broken Zippers

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Trump Idiocy Roundup of the Past Six Hours

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OK, fine, back to Donald Trump. A daily roundup apparently isn’t possible anymore. I guess we need one each for morning, afternoon, and evening. Sigh. Here’s the latest:

Donald Trump announced Monday that he was revoking media credentials from the Washington Post, another sign that he does not tolerate criticism that often comes with presidential campaigns.

Trump has previously banned Politico, BuzzFeed, the Daily Beast, the Des Moines Register and other publications from attending his press events and rallies. But the Post ban is new territory, given the paper’s historic role in covering campaigns and setting the nation’s political agenda.

Hey! Don’t forget about us! Pema Levy has also gotten herself banned from Trump events, which makes me incredibly jealous. Still, I suppose it’s only fair. Pema actually tries to get into Trump events, which is probably a necessary first step to being banned. But I might still have a shot at making one of Trump’s enemies lists, right? I assume he’s got several.

What else? In the kind of plainly unfair reporting that got the Post banned, Max Ehrenfreund wrote an entire article this afternoon about the common Trumpism, “There’s something going on.” Ehrenfreund postsplains: “That phrase, according to political scientists who study conspiracy theories, is characteristic of politicians who seek to exploit the psychology of suspicion and cynicism to win votes.” Roger that.

Then, five hours later, Jenna Johnson followed up with another entire article on the even more common Trumpism: “A lot of people are saying….” That really is probably Trump’s favorite stylistic tic. Note, however, that when he’s referring to himself, it’s always “Everyone says….” As in, “Everyone says I won the debate.” Or “Everyone says the judge has been totally unfair.” Nobody ever asks him to name any of these people who are saying this stuff, of course. I guess that would be rude or something.

Finally, today brings a new study from the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. It’s worth a read, but my favorite part is the chart on the right. It relies on data from Media Tenor, so it hasn’t been cherry picked by the researchers themselves. It shows that (a) only a tiny amount of primary campaign coverage was devoted to issues, (b) of that coverage, Donald Trump’s was 57 percent positive or neutral (!), and (c) Hillary’s was 84 percent negative. That’s issue coverage. Hillary wasn’t just savaged on her tone or her clothing or her poll numbers. She was savaged on the issues, the one place where practically everyone agrees she’s strong and knowledgable. Even if you disagree with her—and that isn’t supposed to affect media coverage—she knows what she’s talking about.

And this wasn’t driven just by Emailgate or Benghazi or whatnot: “Even the non-scandal portion of Clinton’s issue coverage—what she was saying on trade, jobs, foreign policy, and the like—was reported more negatively than positively. Clinton was the only one of the major candidates whose policy platform generated an unfavorable balance of news coverage.

And people wonder why she avoids the press. Maybe if they treated her with the same dignity and respect they reserve for Donald Trump’s deep and profound knowledge of the issues, she’d open up a bit.

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Trump Idiocy Roundup of the Past Six Hours

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Are There Toxic Chemicals Lurking in Your North Face Jacket?

It may come as a surpriseor perhaps not surprising at allthat a variety of toxic chemicals have been used to makeoutdoor gear like jackets, shoes, tents, backpacks, and even sleeping bags.

A new report by Greenpeace Germany has documented that “hazardous and persistent chemicals, dangerous to human health and the environment, have been found in the products of leading outdoor brands.”

Greenpeace tested 40 products purchased in 19 different countries and regions. Among the companies whose products were found to be tainted are The North Face, Patagonia, Mammut, Columbia and Haglofs.

The chemicals found embedded in the fabrics of the products these companies make are calledpoly- and per-fluoronated compounds, or PFCs. PFCs are synthetic chemical compounds that do not exist in nature. They are used by the outdoor gear industry to make products waterproof and dirt-repellent.

As effective as they may be, PFCs have serious human health and environmental impacts. These compounds can cause harm to reproduction, promote the growth of tumors, and affect the hormone system. The National Institute for Environmental Health Science reports that in animal studies PFCs also “reduce immune function; cause adverse effects on multiple organs, including the liver and pancreas; and cause developmental problems in rodent offspring exposed in the womb.”

The Minnesota Department of Health notes that PFCs “are extremely resistant to breakdown in the environment,” so once they are released, they persist for a very long time. They can get into the food chain of animals far from their source. PFCs have been found in animals like dolphins, in polar bear livers, and in human blood. They have also shown up in drinking water and in fish near textile factories in China where much of the clothing and gear is produced.

The gear is not believed to threaten you if you wear it. However, because we all live on one planet, and because once the chemicals are released they circulate all over the world, you could be exposed to themwhether you’ve bought the gear or are basically an innocent bystander. Certainly polar bears never wear Polar-tec, yet the chemicals have shown up in their bodies.

What Can You Do?

1) Ask the manufacturer of your gear whether they use PFC compounds for water proofing and repelling dirt. There’s not really much you can do if you already own the gear, other than return the gear to the manufacturer when you’re finished with it, but that’s better than tossing it in the trash.

2) Buy used gear. Since a big source of PFC pollution comesduring manufacturing, you can reduce the amount of new products manufactured – and new chemicals emitted – by buying gently used equipment and clothing.

3) Likewise, sell your used gear on EBay or Craig’s List, donate it, or take it to a thrift shop rather than throwing it away. Extend its life as long as possible.

4) Buy gear from companies that have pledged zero discharge of hazardous chemicals into the environment. There aren’t many of them, but one to look at is Paramo, which has issued a “Detox Commitment” that hopefully will inspire its competitors.

RELATED

Big-Brand Clothing Found Laced with Toxic Chemicals
Why You Should Wash Your Clothes Before You Wear Them

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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Are There Toxic Chemicals Lurking in Your North Face Jacket?

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Why You Should Wash Your Clothes Before You Wear Them

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Why You Should Wash Your Clothes Before You Wear Them

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