In New York state alone, approximately 1.4 billion pounds of clothing and textiles, exceeding over $130 million, are trashed every year. The majority of these items are recyclable, but many do not realize that clothing, even when stained or damaged, can be used again for other purposes. One of the missions of Bethlehem Central’s Green Team is to educate about environmental topics such as this one, and to also lead by example in order to influence change.
In celebration of America Recycles Day, the BC Green Team partnered with the Town of Bethlehem on Saturday, Nov. 18, to offer the community an opportunity to divert recyclable textiles from our area landfills. Through this event, part of New York’s “Re-Clothe NY” initiative and held at the middle school, the group collected over 27,400 pounds of textiles, paper, and books for re-use. See below for detailed totals. The collected weight of materials averages out to roughly 2 ¾ lbs. for every household in the entire town.
Proceeds from the clothing/textile collection will help fund the Bethlehem Central School District’s Green Team initiatives. The Green Team was just honored with a New York State Environmental Excellence Award on Tuesday, Nov. 14, for its leadership in protecting the environment, promoting energy efficiency and educating students about environmental sustainability and social responsibility. Only seven organizations statewide received awards, which are presented annually by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) (Read more here).
Totals of materials recycled during America Recycles Day:
- Clothing/Textile Recycling: 9,020 lbs. collected for reuse and recycling
- Document Shredding/Paper Recycling: 9,100 lbs. of secure document shredding
- Book and Cardboard Recycling: Grassroot Givers and event volunteers sorted out and collected thousands of books with reuse value, filling multiple vehicles with boxes of high quality books. Those books weighed an estimated 3,200 lbs.; an additional 6,120 lbs. of books and cardboard boxes were collected and recycled by Cascade Recovery.
The textile collection portion of the event is part of “Re-Clothe NY,” a statewide campaign to promote clothing and textile recycling. Visit www.nytextiles.org for details.
For more information about Town of Bethlehem recycling contact Dan Rain, Recycling Coordinator: email recycle@townofbethlehem.org or call 439-4955 ext. 1510.
For BCSD Green Team details visit the Green Team’s webpage on the district website.