Recycling your old clothes not only frees up extra space in your closet, but it also helps prevent those dated jeans from winding up in a landfill. And now it can even net you credits for your next hotel stay.
In 2024, startup company Trashie introduced its clever Take Back Bag, offering a variety of rewards in exchange for your old clothes.
How does Trashie work?
The concept behind Trashie is simple. Users can browse its website and purchase a Take Back Bag product that works best for them. The company offers everything from a single nine-pound bag to a collection of six 15-pound bags that can fit up to 90 pounds of discarded textiles.
Trashie accepts everything: clothing, towels, bedsheets, handbags, stuffed animals, jewelry, and even used shoes.
Once users fill their entire Take Back Bag, they can send it back to Trashie. The company then assesses every item to determine whether it can be reused or if it qualifies for recycling of its materials. These items are sorted and graded based on quality, condition, and demand.
In exchange for your textiles, you can earn rewards that range from deals on movie tickets from AMC Theatres to discounts on your next hotel booking with Marriott, Hyatt, or Hilton.
Why should I recycle my old clothes?
According to E+E Leader, the fashion industry alone produces over 92 million tons of textile waste every year. Of that waste, just 15% of it is properly recycled. The rest can end up in landfills and dumping sites throughout the world.
To make matters worse, synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon, and spandex can take decades to decompose. While taking up space in a landfill, they will contribute to the production of methane, a gas that is far more potent than carbon dioxide in planet-warming potential.
In an interview with The Cool Down, Trashie chief strategy officer Annie Gullingsrud emphasized the core mission of the company.
"This is a community movement. Trashie is a community movement," Gullingsrud said. "... To me, that's the most sort of cherished aspect of this. … It was beautiful. All of the hundreds of thousands of pounds that we were able to divert from a landfill last year is because of us, but really because of the people who leverage the bag."
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Giving me money back 💰 Are there similar programs to Trashie's?
Much like Trashie, other companies have joined in on tackling the growing concern of textile waste. Retold Recycling offers customers its Retold bag, which can fit up to five pounds of textiles. Once you ship your bag, you'll unlock an assortment of rewards that'll get you exclusive deals from companies such as Kona Kinis Swimwear and The Revury.
For anyone with more sneakers than they know what to do with, GotSneakers offers a program that'll reuse, recycle, or repurpose your discarded shoes in exchange for cash. According to the company's 2023 impact report, the program extended the lifespans of over 2 million shoes that would have otherwise gathered dust or ended up in the trash.
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