National Thrift Shop Day puts attention on recycled clothing

The area outside the Vancouver Aquarium was a lot messier than usual the last two days.

An art exhibit showing dozens of used clothes surrounding an inverted oil bin was installed outside the aquarium on August 16, drawing awareness to the impact discarded clothes haveon the environment.

"We're hoping it will be anarrestingwake-upcall for the general public to 'give a shirt' about the environment," said Tony Shumpert, vice president of of recycling and reuse at Value Village.

"We wantpeopleto realize that the mostsustainable pieces ofclothing are the ones we already own, and there's simple things we can do to counteract the impact of clothing waste."

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Shumpert says more than 700 gallons of water can be used to make one new cotton T-shirt, and that over 26 billion pounds of clothing goes to landfills in North America each year.

"The biggest reason we're focused on water is that, in terms of textiles, itis the most intensive resourcethat's used," he said.

As much as 10 per cent of solid waste producedis textiles, Shumpert said,and of that, about 95 per cent can be reused orrecycled.

"It's really a lack of knowledge or education in the ways that people canreusetextiles," he said.

Donating, recycling available

A recent study in Ontario concluded 85 per cent of discarded textiles end up in a landfill site, meaning just 15 per cent are recycled or reused.

Claudia Marsales, a senior waste mange withthe Cityof Markham, Ont., previously told CBC there is a lot of money to be made in textiles even those that aren't in top shape.

The Salvation Army in that city, for example, sorts donations into different grades and still makes 20 cents a pound for clothing turned into rags.

Lower Mainland residents looking to recycle or donate their old clothes can find out where to do so on the Metro Vancouver Recycles website.