Whether it’s the New Year that inspired the need for more organization in your life, or you’re getting a jump start on Spring cleaning, you don’t want to overlook your underwear drawer. Old undies get pushed to the back of the drawer, but it’s time to get rid of stretched out elastic, holes and stains. When your drawers become to nasty to donate, throwing old underwear in the trash may seem like the only solution. Textiles, however, take over 30 years to decompose and actually make up a significant portion of our landfills.
Here’s 9 alternatives to tossing out our worn bras and panties:
- Place your underwear into a TreeMachine bin (located in 15 states), so the non-profit organization USAgain can sort for reuse. Items that are not good quality, will be used to make insulation.
- Drop your undies into a Planet Aid Bin. Even items with minor tears, stains and imperfections may be donated. If there isn’t a bin in your area, you can purchase a box to fill with 70 pounds worth of goods to have shipped back to Planet Aid.
- Harper Wilde and Hanky Panky will take used bras and panties in any condition. They work with a variety of partners to disassemble and separate the hardware from the fabric and foam components, which are then remade into building insulation, couch stuffing and carpet padding. If you make a purchase from Harper Wilde, they include a recycling bag with your purchase and will pay for shipping. But, you can still recycle through their program without making a purchase, you just have to pay for shipping. Fill up any shipping bag (um, Amazon) with up to 10 old wears, and Hanky Pinky will pay for shipping, plus they will give you rewards to use on a new pair to replace the old!
- Subset takes all your clothes, shoes and accessories (even intimates: underwear, bras, socks and tights) and recycles them. Request a Trashie Take Back Bag, fill it with your used apparel, scan the QR code, send it in and earn rewards to shop hundreds of brands!
- If your underwear (or bralette) is made of 100% cotton, wool or silk, it can be composted, but most are made of synthetic materials that take nearly a century to decompose, so check the label. This is why it’s good to consider buying natural fibers, which is becoming very popular and incredibly easy and stylish. To compost, trim off the elastic and cut into strips. Bury the pieces of fabric in your garden. It’s helpful to “turn” the soil a couple times a year so new nutrients can help break down the material.
- There are a plethora of organizations that take gently used bras to help women escaping from homelessness, domestic violence or human trafficking. So consider having a lingerie party with your closet girlfriends and ask everyone to donate a gently used bra, then send the bras to I Support the Girls or Bra Recycling. (Aerie is a great drop off location for gently used bras that will be donated). Or, look for a local organization – there are a ton of Christian nonprofits – that support the same demographic (as well as cancer or natural disaster survivors) with gently used intimate items for their personal use.
- Use your worn goodies to create something amazing – make a fun quilt pillow, or an adorable bow for your hair, add playful embellishments to a t-shirt. There’s actually plenty of usable scrap fabric from your undies that can be salvaged for fun and creative DIY projects (naturally, only use the clean scraps that aren’t too stretched out or faded). We get it though, this totally isn’t everyone’s style.
- TerraCycle has a Clothing & Fabric Waste Box that you can fill with any textile or fabric-based product. It’s a lot more expensive than many of the other options, but it’s a great way to dispose of a lot of items all at once.
- Your local Goodwill, Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul, Savers or other Thrift Stores should take all textiles (including old undies) to be recycled as rags or made into other useful materials, but you may want to check before you donate!
Now that you’ve cleared out your top drawer, make sure you fill it with high quality items that suit your personality and your needs. If you don’t need more undergarments, then enjoy the extra free space and know that by donating your used items, you’re making a significant difference in the world as well as God’s kingdom!
