WHO KNEW That Your Rags and Raggedy Clothes Are Valuable?

A stained shirt is handy when you’re painting a room, and a worn towel is great if you’re drying a wet dog. But you may be finding that you are too well-blessed with such rags these days. Meantime it’s getting more expensive to get rid of your garbage and – as you may have heard - thrift shops are being overwhelmed with goods that are too shoddy to be re-sold and never should have been donated in the first place. Textile waste is a big part of both of these issues. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that more than 22 million pounds of textile waste was deposited in American landfills in 2018. What to do?

There is good news in the shape of companies whose sole purpose is to extract value from your unwanted textile goods. Apparel Impact, founded in New Hampshire, is one such company, and Hanover has recently placed some of their bins around town so that you can clear out your textile waste and feel good about it. Look for the white bins located at the Hanover Co-op on Lebanon Street, the plaza at 45 Lyme Road, and the Department of Public Works. Towels, sheets, clothes, shoes, belts and purses are acceptable, as long as they are not wet, smelly or contaminated. Seal your donations up in plastic bags before dropping them into a bin. Some of the collected items will be donated to needy families; some will end up in thrift stores; others will be sold for use as carpet padding, insulation or rags.

This new service is free to you and to the Town of Hanover. And it comes with an added advantage. Many textiles contain fibers that will take decades to decompose in a landfill. Wringing every last bit of use out of them is a kindness to our planet.