Sustainable Products

Here is a Care2 article about a clothing company and its Common Threads Initiative based on 4R's: reduce, repair, reuse, and recycle.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/holiday-alert-a-company-curbs-clothing-consumption.html

At this time, the company recycles clothing. Its website currently states that it expects to launch the fuller Common Threads Initiative in steps over the next year.

I have clothes that I would love to see recycled. They are not good enough to wear but I hate to throw them out. Maybe they can get new lives! Thanks.

Kate what about making a quilt out of your old clothing?

First I have to learn to sew. I actually did start making a quilt many years ago and it disappeared before i finished it. most of them are not fun quilt material. I could try a small one. I'm not much of a sewer though. I'll consider it though.

If you have a sewing machine and the manual, that's all you need to start. It's all about joining two pieces of fabric (even if you're like me and can't do that in a straight line!)

My clothes go in a step down motion; from good to everyday to garden wear then rags. Sometimes I revamp them into pillows or bedding for my kitties. If they are in fairly good condition and I have shrunk them then they go to our second time around shop to raise money for our hospital. Sometimes they go to a clothing drive. As long as they are not just discarded into dumps!

I have a very little one. I had a big one and let someone have it. dumb. Sometimes for me it's a matter of thinking of doing it at the right time. You know how you think of something you need to do but you're on the train or in the car? Then I just have to get up the initiative to do it. I'm going to work on this though.

Kate why not start a quilting bee, that might be helpful on keeping motivated.

I'm actually a loner.

Even donating old clothing to a humane society for them to use as rags or bedding for the animals. They would appreciate the donations.

I don't know about other shelters but the one here doesn't take clothes probably because the animals could get stuck in them. If anyone has blankets, towels, sheets, stuffed animals, they would take those.

Here is a Care2 story about some clothing companies producing more environmentally friendly clothing:

http://www.care2.com/causes/trailblazers/blog/one-with-people-one-with-planet-and-one-with-performance/#comment-1841701

Living sustainably may well mean moving away from petroleum-based fibres for products including clothing, and back towards natural fibres such as cotton.  For example, here is a recent Care2 article about how washing is polluting the oceans with plastic microfibres:
http://www.care2.com/causes/how-your-washing-machine-is-polluting-the-oceans.html
 
Let's stop buying clothing made from petroleum-based fibres, and instead buy clothes made from natural fibres. This includes when buying secondhand. we can look for natural fibres. 

For those who can afford it, organic cotton sounds good. Here is a wikipedia page on organic cotton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_cotton .  We can help farmers produce organic cotton by redeeming Care2 butterfly credits:  http://www.care2.com/rewards/redeem.html .