Used Clothes are #NotTrashy

TEXTILE RECYCLING INNOVATORS REVEAL USED CLOTHES ARE NOT TRASHY

Global Textile Recycling Industry Leaders Recycle Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” Into Environmental Video in Atlanta

Over 200 of the world’s innovators and leaders in the textile recycling industry met in Atlanta and recycled Pharrell Williams’ popular hit, “Happy,” in the spirit of saving the planet. The video, “Used Clothes are #NotTrashy” was released this week on YouTube and Facebook.

Atlanta’s King Plow Arts Center was transformed into an environmental video shoot location during the 5th Annual Textile Recycling Conference hosted by Garson & Shaw, LLC. The conference focused on clothing recycling and offered attendees the opportunity to participate in the process of creating a video to generate awareness about the lasting benefits of textile recycling. Attendees lip-synched and danced around a 15’ pile of used clothes, recycling bins and other relevant backdrops with the hopes of spreading the social media message, “Used Clothes are #NotTrashy.”

Appearing in the video is the conference’s keynote speaker, journalist and author Elizabeth Cline (Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion), alongside textile recycling innovators Steve Bethell, President and CEO, Bank and Vogue; Ib Hansen, Vice-Chairman, Humana People to People; and Mattias Wallander, CEO, USAgain.

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“It was thrilling to give the world’s textile recycling leaders an opportunity to create such a powerful tool to help spread the important message of textile recycling to all the corners of the earth,” said Lisa Jepsen, CEO, Garson & Shaw.

Garson & Shaw,LLC, is a second-hand goods supply firm located in Atlanta. Committed to giving used clothing a second life and keeping re-usable textiles out of the trash, the company supplies high-quality secondhand clothing to retailers, wholesalers and grading companies in the United States, Canada and Europe. In turn, this clothing is provided to people in need, upcycled into new materials like insulation and carpet padding, or analyzed by scientists seeking new ways to turn recycled textiles into new and useful products.

Textile Recycling Facts, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Research

· 11.1 million tons of clothes are thrown away in the U.S. every year

· The average American trashes 70 pounds of clothes each year

· Only 15% of old clothes are recycled, 85% go to landfills

· Decomposing clothes release methane gas, a cause of climate change

· The U.S. generates 25 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste every year

· Textile waste accounts for 5% of all landfill space, despite being readily recyclable