Clothing Recycling Drive with Shanghai Roots & Shoots

The new year of 2017 started with a clothing recycling party organized by Shanghai Roots & Shoots volunteers at the Sun Moon Light Center during 7-8 January. The recycling project was initiated by a bunch of young people to raise the public awareness for greener fashion style and lower their carbon emission by donating unused clothes.

It is estimated that each year about 13 million tons of textiles are disposed, of which 48% are reusable or recyclable. However, only 2 million tons of textiles are recycled or reused, which means 85% of them goes to landfills. There are several environmental benefits in clothing recycling and reusing, such as reducing the amount of pesticides used in the growing cotton, the chemicals and water used to dye and produce fabrics, the emission of greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds etc. Dedicated to environmental conservation, Roots & Shoots volunteers determines to stay both green and fashion. They launched this clothing recycling drive as a special way to greet a brand-new year.

The recycling drive lasted for two days with three interactive activities for public participation: second-hand clothing collection, handicraft and patchwork workshops. Many people joined the drive by donating their idle clothes and creating artworks with their imagination. They are truly the green ambassadors who act to make a difference!

At the clothing recycling station, bags of unused and idle clothes were brought for donation. One women carried four big bags of clothes with her, making her one of the biggest individual donor among this drive. She was quite surprised to find out that there were so many idle garments in her closet. Taking this chance, she cleared up all these unused clothes for donation. She also determined to reduce purchase for new clothes in the future and continue to donate old garments to support environmental causes. She said, “I am so happy to find out that besides financial donation, there are many ways to be an environmentalist. It is very easy to reduce wastes and do more recycling in daily life. That is also very green!” Those who donated clothes got coupons at the station, for which they could exchange for various gifts, including LUX shampoo, OMO washing powder, DOVE bath wash and brand wines.

The most popular and interactive activity was the socks handicraft workshops. On the table, laid boxes of used buttons, knitting wool and decorative accessories collected by volunteers. Participants were requested to bring their own used socks. With proper instruction and a lot of imagination and careful sewing, those worn socks magically turned in to unique dolls. These four workshops attracted many parents with their children. Some kids made pinky princess dolls, some made adorable pig dolls, some even create their own octopus and kitty. Everyone enjoyed the handicraft work and the fulfillment of reuse and recycle.

In the final day, a special patchwork wall of city skyline was created with joint efforts of all participants. Utilizing odds and ends of textiles with different color, shape and texture, this patchwork was so eye-catching that many passers-by stopped to take photos with it. As the representative of volunteers who organized this clothing recycling drive, Sun Yulin was very proud in the front of the patchwork. She said, “The public’s positive feedback is no doubt the best reward we can get. I believe this patchwork perfectly embodies the joint effort and determination of all citizens in Shanghai to build a greener city together.”

This two-day clothing recycling drive collected 33 boxes of garments, bags and accessories, adding up to 1,530 pieces, which can reduce about 10,710 kg of CO2 emission. All qualified clothes will be donated to Buy42, supporting the disabled communities. All proceeds from the Buy42 booth at the site will be donated to Shanghai Roots & Shoots’ Million Tree Project, to plant bushes in Ningxia in fighting against desertification.

Let’s stay fashion and green in 2017 together!

About Shanghai Roots & Shoots

Established in November 1999, Shanghai Roots & Shoots was officially registered five years later. In the past 17 years, this organization focuses on environmental education especially in the youth communities, to raise their awareness and knowledge, form a positive and sustainable development idea and empower them with necessary tools and capacities. By now, Shanghai Roots & Shoots has a network of over 350 student groups and over 50,000 volunteers registered.

Website: www.srschina.org

About Buy42.com

Buy42(Shantaowang) is the first thrift shop in China who came online in March 2011. Combing thrift store with e-business, it is a new way of doing charity work. “Each has value” is our belief. We encourage the public to donate well-shaped idle stuff to us for sale online and improve our working process to provide more sustainable and dignified working opportunities for the disabled. All proceeds are used to create jobs for 80 million disabled people in China, as well as trainings.

Website: www.shantaowang.com

About Sun Moon Light Center Shanghai

Sun Moon Light Center Shanghai is in downtown Shanghai. Right in the Dapuqiao area in Huangpu District, the center is surrounded by North-South Highway, Xujiahui Road and Taikang Road, next to Ruijin Hospital and Tian Zi Fang. It is a grand compound of commercial shops, office buildings, apartments and food plaza. Subway Line 9 passes below with Dapuqiao Station connected to the center directly. Each day nearly 100,000 people visited the center, making it the new icon of this city.