Old-Stained-Ratty T-Shirts and Shorts

His navy blue Polo t-shirt
matches his navy blue Polo socks

Day 26: Old-Stained-Ratty T-shirts and Shorts

This is the era of disposable underwear and saggin'. It's no wonder we Americans discard 70 pounds of textiles every year. Last year's outfits are embarrassing.

Parents of growing children must be driving up the average. Sam has decided he wants to dress nicer, which in the world of 15-year-old boys, means khaki shorts, a belt, and socks that go halfway up his calves.

To earn his new clothes, Sam must wash, fold and put away all the clothes he already owns, separating out the ones he has outgrown. This time, there is very little he's outgrown: just two or three pairs of khaki shorts from last summer (now covered with stains) and a couple of old-stained-ratty t-shirts. Oh, and a grocery bag full of mismatched athletic socks.

Instead of throwing his old-stained-ratty stuff away, I put them in the Goodwill pile. In doing my research for this stuff project, I learned that if your old-stained-ratty clothes are too old-stained-ratty to sell to U.S. thrift store shoppers, they'll go to textile recyclers (aka ragpickers) who either ship them to impoverished countries as clothing, turn them into cleaning rags, or sell them as scrap to be turned into sound insulation or carpet pads.

But that's only if you give them to the Goodwill. 85% of the 70 pounds of textiles each of us discards each year goes directly into the garbage can.

What a waste. 

So, does it count as getting rid of something if you just buy something new to replace it?