Textile waste: what every household should know

We tend to think of waste as packaging and food scraps, but textiles are a surprisingly large and fast-growing part of what households send to the landfill. Understanding the basics makes it easy to do better — without much effort at all.

How much are we throwing away?

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American discards roughly 80 pounds of clothing and textiles each year, and the large majority of it ends up landfilled or incinerated rather than reused or recycled. Multiply that across a city and the numbers get heavy fast.

Why textiles are a problem in the landfill

• Volume. Clothing is bulky and adds up quickly across millions of households.
• Wasted resources. A huge share of a garment's environmental footprint comes from making it. Tossing a wearable item throws all of that away.
• Slow breakdown. Many fabrics are blended with synthetics that linger for a very long time.

The good news: most of it is avoidable

The vast majority of what we throw away could be reused or recycled. Wearable clothing can be rehomed; worn-out textiles can become insulation, padding, and industrial cloths. The only thing standing between a garment and a second life is usually convenience.

The simple habit that helps

You do not have to overhaul your life — just change where the "let go" pile goes. Instead of the trash, send it somewhere it will be sorted, reused, and recycled. A free pickup makes that the path of least resistance. Learn more about what happens after pickup.

Keep textiles out of the landfill →