Where do clothes go when they die?

I dream of the day when designing circularity into materials and garments will make this work obsolete, but for now, I want to innovate in how we recover and reuse textile waste in Ireland.

Okay, maybe that topic title is a little morbid, but HI! I'm keen to hear about your resell, donation, reuse, or disposal habits for your unwanted clothes.

We all know that the best thing unwanted clothing can become is new clothing for someone else - whether through swap events, depop selling, passing them on to sisters and cousins, or donating to charity shops - but what happens to garments and home textiles that aren't quite up to another use in their current state? Much of it is exported, which can support second-hand markets in other countries, but if the quality is too low, then we are just exporting a waste problem. Some will be shredded or downcycled in some way to be used as insulation or furniture filler. Recycling at a fiber-level (breaking down old clothes and spinning new yarn for making new fabric) is only possible with pure fibers (much of fast fashion is made of mixed fibers) and doesn't yield as good a quality as new fibers, particularly in cotton (one highly developed exception is nylon - companies can make, recycle, and remake without losing quality! Though it is of course a resource-heavy process).

Studying at the UCD Innovation Academy for a Postgraduate Certificate in Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, in 2020 gave me an opportunity to research the issue of textile waste. Since then, I have been looking at intervening in current waste streams to recover usable materials at points I think are currently untapped and therefore entering waste processes before their use is exhausted.

My background is in art and design, with some teaching, writing, communications, and costume work along the way; I studied fashion design ten years ago and soon found myself unable to really find a fulfilling place in the industry. I'm really keen on circular economy, material reuse, and making. I have often felt overwhelmed by the problems facing the textile industry - and by the sheer amount of stuff in the world - but Saturn Cottage Industries is my path back in; to do the best I can to find meaningful work for myself, in making meaningful pieces for you. I would really value hearing about what you do with your old clothes, where or how you dispose of them, or any concerns you might have about how textile waste is handled in Ireland. I'm particularly keen to hear from anyone working at any touchpoint of the current textile reuse and/or waste streams, such as in charity shops, about how we can make Irish textile waste a resource for makers and industry here on the island.