We all have a favorite purchase that we’d love to last forever. Maybe it’s a fuzzy blanket that nothing comes close to replicating, or a limited-edition, circa-2008 bedazzled iPod Shuffle. As priceless as these things feel, they’re not infallible. You’ve got about two to three years, give or take, before your beloved bed sheets and feather pillows are going to give up the ghost and need replacing. Electronics are also complicated to dispose of, given that batteries can’t be thrown in the trash, yet you want to free up some storage space.
When their time is up, you must—in the most literal sense—lay them to rest. I take the mantra of “reuse, reduce, and recycle” very seriously, and will eke out as much extra mileage as I can by cutting up old sheets and towels to use as cleaning rags, or turning a ratty old pillow into a makeshift dog bed. Recycling programs near me don’t accept textiles, so eventually I have to toss them into the trash, knowing they're headed to a landfill.
The numbers on textile waste are astounding. In 2017, the UN Environment Programme reported that 92 million metric tons of textile waste were generated globally each year, with the US accounting for 17 million metric tons, according to another 2017 statistic by the Environmental Protection Agency.
It feels pretty bleak. However, thanks to a targeted social media ad, I found a textile-recycling subscription service that's the answer I’ve been looking for: Trashie. Purchase a “Take Back Bag” for $20 and you can send in clean, used clothing, bedsheets, shoes, and even old Halloween costumes. The bags come in packs of one or three. There is also the “Take Back Tech Box” for $25, where you can send back old electronics that have been collecting dust in a drawer. In return, you earn points for discounts or gift cards at major retailers like Cozy Earth and Nuuly. You can also shop and earn points at partner sites, like Parachute. So, if you've been looking for an excuse to get rid of last season's trends that not even the thrift store would want (goodbye, puffy quilted tote bag; I do not understand why this was a trend), this is it.
Trash to Treasure
Andre West, director of the Zeis Textile Extension (ZTE) at North Carolina State University's Wilson College of Textiles, corroborated the UN's and EPA's data in his research. And he says the problem of textile waste is only getting worse.
Fast fashion is to blame for a lot of this, he says. “In the USA, there would be a higher amount [of waste] than there has been in the past. I don't see it slowing down at this point in time.”
Furthermore, it's hard to track where textile waste ends up, and thus, calculating exact numbers like this can be quite the undertaking. "It's also hard to determine data, because waste goes into all different avenues—it doesn't go into one big lump. Some of it gets discarded, some of it gets burnt, some of it gets cubed and shipped to other countries," he says.
West painted a picture for me of how big the problem is, and how impactful a business like this could potentially be. “Sorting products is still in its infancy of how to do it properly," he says. “Even if you sorted by color, they're all made from different materials with buttons, zippers, and linings.” He also told me that items can often be mislabeled. This affects recycling because breaking down each of these fibers requires a different, often time-consuming process, so having a service like Trashie handle this is a potential game changer.
What Can Be Recycled?
Into my Take Back Bag went a duvet cover that my dog chewed holes in and some old linens that were the material version of a Walking Dead zombie. You can also throw in clothing that isn’t suitable for donation. Hate to tell you, but that stained sweater? No one's going crazy over that one at the thrift store, but it is perfect for Trashie’s recycling purposes. Trashie accepts a pretty extensive list of recyclable items (assuming they're clean), which you can find here.
I also partook in the Take Back Tech Box, sending in up to 10 pounds of old charging cords and phones. If you're worried about personal information still on your devices, Trashie has a process to erase your data. More on that in a minute.
I sealed both the Take Back bag and the Tech Box (adhesive strips are attached), added some extra tape for good measure, and then scanned the QR code on the bottom right of the bag. Once you've signed up for an account, you'll be prompted to enter a numerical code printed below the QR code. From there, drop it off at your nearest UPS location and enjoy the points added to your Trashie account. Points give you access to more exclusive deals, called Premium Deals. You can also earn points by shopping partner deals on Trashie’s Deals tab, where a bag or box purchase isn’t required—look for a small, green “TC” logo on qualified deals. However, points are only accrued once you buy via the TC deal (Trashie redirects you to the site you’re looking to gain points on). It takes much longer to earn a substantial number of points this way, and you're not recycling anything.
How the Magic Happens
I reached out to Trashie’s CEO and founder, Kristy Caylor, to learn more about Trashie and what she envisions for the future of textile recycling. Caylor comes from a fashion background, where she witnessed firsthand the water and textile waste the industry generates—particularly in the fast-fashion avenue.
Once shipped off, your bag is ultimately delivered to one of Trashie’s recycling centers. “Our material recycling happens after the sorting process and through a network of certified partners primarily in the United States,” said Caylor. “These partners work according to the Global Recycled Standard. We prioritize working with partners that are geographically close to our domestic sorting operations to minimize shipping and reduce our carbon footprint.”
To touch on the sorting process, it’s kind of like when you separate your paper, plastic, and glass recyclables. Take Back bags and Tech Boxes are sorted with precision to determine what is available to work with. If items still have some life left to give, they’re donated to charity. The rest continues its way through Trashie’s recycling process. As stated on Trashie's website, “Reusable items are redistributed through a network of global partners, ensuring they reach the right people at the right time.”
I asked Caylor about this, too, curious to see where these charity items wound up. Here’s what she told me: “When items are designated for reuse, they’re redistributed through our domestic and international network of retailers who have a specific need for those categories—everything is sorted by product type and condition to ensure the right match. This category-based approach maximizes reuse and significantly reduces what ends up in the trash. Some items flow through charitable channels across the US, where we supply seasonally relevant products to meet local needs.”
A more recent example of local needs can be seen with Trashie’s outreach to those affected by the LA wildfires, working to apply not only the Trashie recycling process but get clothing resources to those in dire need. But this distribution isn’t just to make an impact on communities both domestic and international—it’s to keep these materials from ending up in landfills, which circles back to the founding mission of Trashie. Kind of like how recycling itself is a circular process.
Trashie handles both e-waste recycling and data purging domestically as a security measure. No outside parties are involved; handling it in-house controls access to devices and data during this process. Old devices are cleared of your personal information and either refurbished or shredded to extract metal and plastic components.
If you’re as curious as I am about what my duvet cover is going to be transformed into, I asked Caylor about that, too. “These products can be cut into materials and repurposed into products like pet bed filling, insulation, carpet padding, industrial rags, or even respun into new yarns,” she said. “For example, cotton sheets might be turned into the soft fill used in pet bedding.” Ironic how my dog Randy could prevail in this situation with a new bed, given that he destroyed the duvet.
How Does the Rewards System Work?
So you want to cash in on your recycling efforts with these newfound points you’ve amassed. Once your Trashie account is all set up, there are two main categories of rewards: the Premium ones that you apply points to, or the ones I lovingly refer to as “the freebies.” You can peruse both these categories daily to see if any new brands have joined the roster. The free ones usually include coupon codes to apply at checkout, whereas the Premium offerings deduct points from your overall TrashieCash sum, often for an even better discount. Trashie also has a Chrome extension that helps tally up points and discounts when you shop via partner sites. Save the Earth, save some money—a double-whammy win-win.
As for the premium points, you get 30 points or TrashieCash with a single TakeBack Bag. Discounts will vary by vendor. Many options cost five TrashieCash points for an exclusive discount code, like a $20 discount at Cozy Earth for a purchase of $60 or more. In the case of Andie Swim, 20 points equals a $20 discount.
While you can’t apply points to buying another Trashie TakeBack Bag directly from the site, here is a workaround: You can use them to purchase it on a partner site that offers them. If you don't want to buy bags individually, you can also sign up for a subscription to get a bag every month, three months, or six months. Opting for a subscription also gives you a 15 percent discount, bringing the total to $17 per bag.
You may have all sorts of streaming subscriptions, but a recycling service is an easy way to reduce your environmental impact while still getting benefits. As for me, I'm excited to get a replacement duvet cover with my points—looks like I’ll be cashing in on that Cozy Earth deal after all.
