Scary reason we should never throw old clothes in the rubbish
If you’ve recently done a spring clean of your wardrobe, chances are you’ve thrown out your fair share of old, unwanted clothes. However, if you’re simply chucking them in the bin, you might want to reconsider your approach.
According to the Huffington Post, when clothes end up in landfill, it can have a seriously negative impact on the environment. When they decompose, your old jackets, jeans and dresses emit toxic pollutants into the atmosphere, including deadly greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane.
So, even if you think you’re doing your part for the earth by recycling and reusing, you may be undoing all your good work simply by having a good old spring clean. “Reuse and repair clothing to the extent possible,” landfill expert and professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at North Carolina State University, Dr Morton Barlaz, told HuffPost. “When no longer usable and not appropriate to give away, use for rags or donate to a thrift store.”
And even if you think your old clothes are ugly or too damaged to be re-used, think again. Most charity services don’t put all the clothing items they receive up for sale in their shops, opting instead to use the fabric to create new garments.
Tell us in the comments below, how do you reduce your impact on the environment?
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