Most Donated Clothes Go to Landfills — Avoid That with the Take Back Bag

In my 12 years in the fashion industry, I’ve been lucky enough to work for four sustainable brands. I love that these brands use eco-friendly materials and processes, but I’ve also noticed that, when people stop wearing these clothes, what happens next often undoes all those good intentions. People just don’t seem to realize that even the clothes they donate often wind up in the trash, and I’ve always hoped that a sustainable brand would come up with a solution. That’s exactly what Trashie has done with its much-needed Take Back Bag.

Here’s how it works: You order the Take Back Bag from Trashie, add all the clothes, shoes, sheets, accessories, and towels you no longer use to the bag, and send it back to Trashie via USPS. From there, Trashie will ensure your textiles get recycled instead of sent to landfill, and you’ll get $20 in “Trashie Cash” credit to shop with Trashie. You can send in ripped, stained, and torn clothes too — with the Take Back Bag, items that other resale services don’t accept actually get recycled, and you always earn $20 in Closet Cash to spend.

The Trashie Cash was a nice incentive too. You can use it dollar-for-dollar at ForDays.com which always has great sales on denim, athleisure, home goods, beauty, accessories and more. These were brands I’d already fallen in love with over my years in sustainable fashion — for example, Andie Swim (a sustainable swim brand that funds ocean conservation initiatives) and Cariuma (a sneaker brand that focuses on reforestation and fair labor practices), Known Supply (a clothing brand that highlights the people making its products) and Zero Waste Store (a household goods brand focused on eliminating all product and shipping waste). I loved getting rewarded for sustainable behavior and using my rewards directly with brands that do better.

I also loved powering Trashie’s impressive eco-friendly impacts. Each Take Back Bag saves 15 pounds of textile waste, 92 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, and 1.5 thousand gallons of water. In total, Take Back Bags kept 3 million items out of the trash in 2023, diverted 21 million pounds of carbon dioxide, and rewarded recyclers with $1 million in Trashie Cash. Trashie is building a whole ecosystem of sustainable shopping and action, and I know from my own sustainable fashion expertise that Trashie is truly benefiting our ecosystem too.

I’m far from alone in loving the Take Back Bag. Its recent reviews are almost all five stars, with many of them praising Trashie’s novel approach to combating textile waste and making the whole process super easy. This lines up with my experience, and I bet you’ll feel the same when you try the Take Back Bag — I recommend it more strongly than any textile sustainability initiative I’ve encountered in my decade-plus in this industry. Plus, Trashie is running closet cleanout deals for the holidays — that’s more recycling, more rewards, and more doing good.