Recycle Your Clothes With Patagonia

We’re proud to sell products from ethical companies that take an interest in our wonderful planet and put that into practice in their business.  There’s so much to consider when creating a thoroughly eco-friendly business; the sourcing of goods, the production of the goods, factory emissions, waste during and after production, transportation of the goods…  So it makes us happy to find that the outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, has taken being ethical one step further; making a promise to consider what happens to their goods even after they’ve been sold.

Patagonia have an established way of recycling clothing that has been in place for some time now, as in 2005 they started their own “Common Threads Garment Recycling Program”. Through this, customers could return their worn out Patagonia gear to be recycled into flashy new items, saving landfill.  At the beginning of the project, only baselayer clothing could be recycled, but over the years the variety of garments from Patagonia that can be recycled has expanded and now includes worn out Patagonia and Polartec Fleece and Patagonia Cotton Tshirts!

It’s exciting news, then, that the majority of our new Spring/Summer range of Patagonia Clothing for 2010 is compatible with this Common Threads Garment Recycling Program and can one day be reused.  So if, in a few years time you find this blog and you’ve worn your nice Patagonia T-shirt, or favourite Patagonia Retro Pants and you don’t want to throw them away and increase landfill, then here’s how you make use of clothes that have been loyal friends for years:

1) Wash your clothes (always recommended).

2) a) Send it to France: Patagonia Service Center, c/o CEPL BEVILLE, Recycling Program, 7 Avenue Gustave Eiffel, 28630 Gellainville, France

OR

2) b) Drop them off at a local Patagonia Retail Store.

It’s a great idea and impressive that Patagonia have a long standing company goal to take full responsibility for every product they make, but of course, there are a few issues with sending things to Gellainville in France, particularly when you live in a different country!  So, a question: what is the best way of reusing and recycling our clothing when we’re finished with it?  There are so many different options available, what are companies doing these days to take responsibility for unwanted wardrobes?

Image thanks to Marshall Astor