Clothes Recycling

Good evening folks, happy Sunday…oops wait a minute, there’s still one more day in the weekend. Thank goodness. Enjoy it while it lasts. This week was hectic covering Superior Courts and getting things organized for an ecotourism story Ali and I are finishing. That story should be on the website very soon.

I’m surprised I didn’t think of this week’s topic earlier but it came to mind this week. My brother and I putting bags and boxes together of old clothing that we’re planning to recycle. I thought I’d take a look at spots in Tucson to take this stuff to and also look and see what else old clothing can be used for.



A few places in town your clothes can be taken to are Savers, Buffalo Exchange and the Salvation Army thrift stores. I’ve taken my clothes to the Salvation Army a few times because it was closest to my house. This site has a list of the Salvation Army locations in Tucson and others in Sierra Vista, Nogales and Casa Grande.

I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with Savers and Buffalo Exchange. The Savers website I highlighted talks about the benefits of recycling. They don’t just want people to recycle their clothing but also toys, rags, books and sporting goods, just to name a few. I went to Buffalo Exchange one time, dropped off a huge bag and took off before they could look through it. I didn’t want to take any clothes back with me. This portion of the Buffalo Exchange site gives some interesting statistics of ways they’ve helped recycling over the past few years, along with their benefits of recycling customer clothing.

I told you folks I was eventually going to highlighted Tucson Clean and Beautiful once again. I discovered other locations where people in Tucson can recycle clothing. It is the fourth category after recycling CD’s/videos, cell phones and Christmas trees. Don’t hesitate to look at those either. There’s a pretty good list with more addresses and other kinds of contact information. Casa de los Niños and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tucson are a few they present.

I actually found a site that informs people of doing more than just taking clothes to a store. People can also make new items that come from the recycled clothing. Ohio St. University produces a website called Recycling Clothing Using Your Sewing Skills. There’s a part of this site that was interesting that I think I’ll share live and it has to do with different things people can do. Here are a few categories:

From a Dress
1. A different dress for yourself or a child
2. A blouse for yourself or a child
3. A child's jumper or short set
4. A boy's shirt
5. A pair of shorts for yourself
6. A top to wear with pants

From a Skirt
1. A child's dress
2. A child's skirt or play suit
3. A child's coat or jacket if the skirt is heavy fabric
4. A blouse or vest for yourself

From a Man's Shirt
1. A child's skirt or blouse
2. A smock or apron
3. A blouse for yourself

Finally, here’s one more site that gives more ideas on what people can do with other household items like table cloths being turned into organizers and bed spreads made from blue jeans. The site is called The Dollar Stretcher.

Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a relaxing week ahead.