Underwear?
I was suprised when I saw Idealbyte feature an article about recycling underwear. This is one item I don’t particularly like to bring to the Budget Shop in town. I also don’t really like to use my used underwear as cleaning rags because I don’t feel comfortable having my summer crew clean windows with them. This is why my underwear drawer is overflowing.
When you own an outfitting business you find many things campers have left behind. Sometimes it’s socks that are soaked and dirty, other times it’s a pair of wet tennis shoes or an unwanted sweatshirt. We even have people leave their underwear behind. Of course I won’t throw anything in the garbage so clothing gets washed, dried and put into a box to go to the budget shop. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, right? Well, this one particular pair of underwear was really nice. So nice in fact that I decided I could be the one to re-use them! It sounds strange but they were a great athletic brand and they were pink, I couldn’t resist and wouldn’t think about cleaning my glasses with such a nice pair of panties.
It seems I’m not the only one that thinks about recycling and reusing underwear. Here’s what Idealbyte has to say about it.
Could Christian Bale’s spandex skivvies really save the day?
The BiteThey can if he recycles them when they’re worn through. Recycling your old tighty whiteys gives your undies a new life and helps save landfill space – one panty at a time.
The Benefits
More space to expand Wayne Manor. Help reduce the nearly 9 million tons of clothing tossed into our landfills yearly.Sparing Gotham City’s air. Each pound of clothing that you recycle spares 1.7 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere (since creating new materials uses more energy than recycling).
Personally Speaking
Check out a few übercreative uses for old undies in today’s blog.Wanna Try?
- Patagonia Common Threads Garment Recycling – send in or drop off your worn-out thermal underwear (and other clothes), and Patagonia will turn them into new apparel.
- Goodwill and Salvation Army – many of their branches accept clean, gently used underwear (again, emphasis on clean).
- DIY Bite: Reuse old underwear as a rag (just remember to put it away next time you invite the boss over for dinner). If it’s cotton (and as long as you didn’t use the rag to wipe up toxic stuff like car oil), you can compost it when it’s no longer useful – just make sure to cut off and toss elastic bands if it has any.
- If 10,000 Biters each recycle 10 pairs of underwear, it’ll have the same CO2-reducing effect as planting 11 trees.
- On his 1986 tax return, Bill Clinton deducted $6 for donating three pairs of used underwear to the Salvation Army.