Facts and Statistics

T-Shirts: For every pound of clothing collected it translates into significant environmental benefits. Approximately 100 million pounds of clothing is produced every year, which allows for a significant amount of that and scrap material to find its way into landfills. In addition, less insecticide is, released into the environment when clothing is reused rather than disposed of, there is a reduce need to produce the fabric required to manufacture the clothing. Given that approximately 0.02 pounds of pesticides are used to produce one pound of new clothes, there was approximately 2 million pounds fewer insecticides that could wash into waterways or otherwise harm the environment. These insecticides would have included some of the most hazardous nerve agents on the planet, namely, aldicarb, parathion, and methamidopho, which are used to protect cotton from being damaged by insects.

Furthermore, waterways are also spared of pollution, according to the World Bank, 17-20 percent of industrial water pollution is due to textile dyeing and treatment. In addition to this the production of fabric consumes a vast quantity of fresh water. One T-shirt, for example, consumes about 700 gallons of water. Put into perspective, Americans drink 8.4 billion gallons of bottled water per year. By not having to collect and dispose of an extra 100 million pounds of municipal waste in the form of unwanted clothing, we save municipalities millions of dollars in associated costs.

Furthermore, in regards to the greenhouse effect, when solid waste such as textiles are buried in landfills they naturally release greenhouse gases as they decompose. Similar to the opposite end of the clothing life-cycle spectrum, the production of textile fibers and the manufacture of cloth burns considerable quantities of fuel that releases CO2 into the atmosphere. Approximately 3-4 pounds of CO2 are saved for every 1 pound of clothing that is spared from disposal. This translates to effectively save 300-400 million tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere for every 100 million tons collected annually. This is the equivalent of taking 26,000-35,000 cars off the road, based off the EPA, a passenger car emits about 11,450 pounds of CO2 a year on average.

Upcycling Glass: Approximately 12 million tons of glass is generated in the United States annually, and 3 million tons estimated, gets recovered. Americans throw away almost 9 million tons of glass. Over a ton of natural resources are conserved for every ton of glass recycled, including 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash, 380 pounds of limestone, and 160 pounds of feldspar. Which means that Americans waste around 11 million pounds of sand with the glass bottles that are discarded. Glass container manufacturers use up to 70% recycled glass, or “cullet.” Cullet: recycled broken or waste glass used in glass-making A glass container can go from a recycling bin to a store shelf in as few as 30 days. In regards to energy upcycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours, power a computer for 30 minutes, or a television for 20 minutes. Use of cullet in place of raw material saves energy because it melts at a lower temperature. That means it also emits less carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide, two greenhouse gasses.