Recycling Update: Part 3, Textiles

The subject of textile recycling covers several different topics. Used clothing is collected through various means and after cleaning and sorting, is donated to the less fortunate of us or sold in second-hand venues such as Goodwill in order to raise funds. However, once a garment is no longer a viable garment, it eventually enters the "waste stream." Other textiles that are non-durable, such as sheets and towels, are often converted to rags and wipers. It is interesting to note that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not consider this type of "reuse" as recycling because the rags and wipers eventually do become waste material.

Hotels, motels, resorts, and medical clinics and hospitals are a major source of reused or recycled textiles. These "damaged" or used textiles are often processed by sorting, cutting, and hemming. Other sources are textile manufacturers themselves, that often have unusable or damaged material that is produced in the manufacturing process. Textiles that can't be used for rags have other uses. Cotton is used in high-quality paper making. Other knitted and woolen fabrics are "pulled" into fibrous state and reprocessed into fibers that are used in upholstery, insulation and other building materials.

Two companies that make clothing, Patagonia and Nike, have been in the news regarding their "green" policies. Patagonia, well-known for its "footprint" program, launched its Common Threads Garment Recycling Program to recycle used garments into modern styles. And in the recent World Cup games, no less than nine soccer teams were wearing Nike jerseys that were made from recycled plastic bottles.

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Sources:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/recycled-cotton-saves-land-water-energy.html

http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/textiles.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_recycling#Conversion_to_rags

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1995859,00.html

Some people do not want to work

(This posting was published as a letter to the editor, in the St. Petersburg Times on 3/28/2010)

I am the office manager of a very successful recycling textiles company. We recently placed an ad on Craigslist for an inside and outside salesperson, with no results for the first three days. After revising the ad, we offered up to $45,000 a year. Two people answered. One turned it down because he wanted a car and $60,000, but he wanted to keep the door open for other opportunities. The other wanted to be inside sales only.

We eventually placed a different ad for a sales manager assistant. No money was mentioned, but we got many resumes. Eight were picked and scheduled for interviews. But to our surprise, only one person showed up and he was not sure about taking the job. He said he had to check with his wife. What is wrong with this picture?

Now I know why unemployment is so high. Someone I know who has been recently unemployed said: "I can retire for a year or two, receiving benefits, best thing that could have ever happened to me."

Maybe one of the reasons unemployment is so high is because it is too easy to be unemployed. Some people really do not want to work.

Marta Roman, RFI Inc., Clearwater