"We sort through 70,000 pounds a day, which is about 2 trailer loads. Each trailer has about 35,00 pounds. It's a lot, but that's how many clothes (there) are,” Mirza said. Mirza said that it is two trailer loads per day, which are brought to the Houston Ship Channel and exported throughout the world. The clothes are distributed to different parts of the world. This includes Central and South America, South Asia and Africa. Mirza wishes more people would donate their clothes. She thinks that climate change is pretty bad already, and she wants to stop furthering the problem.
When the clothes first arrive, they are sorted on a conveyer belt. | Ana Gonzalez/Cooglife
“If people started throwing away all of their clothes…only God knows what would happen if everybody started doing that. But, thankfully we have these centers where people are donating clothes," Mirza said. You can recycle almost anything, even if it’s torn or stained, it just has to be an absorbent material (polyester, for example, is not recyclable). The clothes are then sold to another business that cuts them and turns them into wiping rags. After they are cut and packaged, they are sold to paint and hardware stores, or automobile stores where they can be used. For people who want to help their environment, this is one way to help. In some U.S. cities, they have already started a post-consumer textile recycling initiative to reduce the millions of clothes that end up in the trash. As for Mirza, she has high hopes for the future. She has even thought about setting up a drop off box where people can come and give their clothes. “That is something I am looking forward to” Mirza said.
Clothing is sorted by the type of material and size that they are. | Ana Gonzalez/Cooglife
Packets can be a number of different sizes. This is what a 1,000 pound packet looks like. | Ana Gonzalez/Cooglife COOGLIFE // FALL 2017
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