A recent ABC report has found that almost 80 percent of unwanted textiles end up in landfill each year, with almost 305,000 tonnes of textiles discarded in NSW last year, and only 800 tonnes taken to be recycled. This is an issue that was discussed during the Banyule Youth Summit, a day where around 100 young people came together from all over Banyule, to discuss topics that matter most to us.
In response to this issue and in relation with Banyule Youth Services, an idea was created regarding the issue of fast fashion. In the hopes of reducing the amount of clothes ending up in landfill.
A group of us have created an initiative to combat this. We have decided to collect old school jumpers, and send them to a manufacturer that recycles the fibres from the jumpers into new clothes and accessories.
Boxes will be scattered around the Banyule area, such as Watermarc reception, Jets Studios Bundoora, Ivanhoe Library, Watsonia Library, Rosanna Library, OLMC and CLC. People can bring in their jumpers to OLMC up until Friday 10 December, when the boxes will be collected and sent to be recycled.
This is such a great opportunity for people to put their old jumpers to use, and an easy way for each of us to play our part in reducing the amount of clothing ending up in landfill.
We would love it if you could look for any old school jumpers to recycle and spread the word around this issue!