Remarkable Innovators— Recycling Fabric
- Elise Mountsier
- May 22, 2020
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 7, 2020
Many non-profits, local and nationwide, are committed to recycling deadbolt and scrap fabric, greatly reducing the amount of textiles that end up in landfills every year.
In an industry that produces more pollution than international flights and maritime shipping combined, many non-profits are working to reuse and recycle textiles from the fashion industry (Minhaj).
“Textile recycling is not offered through the same channels through which paper, glass, and plastic are recycled. That is why it is so important that non-profits are rising up to do what government and industry have failed to do.”
Over a year ago, I sat down in a meeting next to a woman hand sewing a bright white Elizabethan ruff. She was a costume designer rushing to finish her sewing in time, so we spent the next twenty minutes chatting about sewing. It was in this chance meeting with an industry professional that I learned about FabMo.
FabMo is a non-profit in my local Bay Area that works to save deadbolt, sample, and scrap fabric. When a designer finishes a run of any design, they are bound to have some extra bolts of fabric, deadbolt fabric. FabMo takes fabric which would otherwise end up in landfills and gives it to fiber artists free of charge.
While researching for another article, I was delighted to discover another non-profit working to recycle textiles. FABSCRAP works directly with hundreds of designers to responsibly recycle their industrial scraps. They offer a pickup program in New York City and beyond. FABSCRAP keeps textile scraps out of landfills and waterways, reducing CO2 and dye pollution.
Textile recycling is not offered through the same channels through which paper, glass, and plastic are recycled. That is why it is so important that non-profits are rising up to do what government and industry have failed to do. Check for textile recycling non-profits in your local area and support their mission for eco-fashion.
FabMo. https://www.fabmo.org/
FABSCRAP. https://fabscrap.org
Minhaj, Hasan. “The Ugly Truth of Fast Fashion.” Patriot Act, season 5, episode 3, Netflix.
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