RECYCLING
If you just dump clothes and
materials in your rubbish bin they will
end up being taken to landfill and will
take years to decompose and break
down, releasing damaging gases. It is
estimated 1.4million tonnes* of clothing is
wasted in the UK in this way every year.
As well as being a waste of
resources, this needlessly harms the
environment and also adds to the
charges (landfill tax) the council has
onne
to pay for every tonne of waste
is
sent to landfill. This wasted
ckling
money ends up trickling
down to you, the
t
taxpayer, to pay. It is
a triple whammy.
HOW CAN
YOU RECYCLE
TEXTILES?
It is easy. Put it in your
ox
green recycling box (bagged
to keep it dry) for collection, or place
it in one of the textile banks that are
located across the borough. Additional
textile banks have recently been
installed on some estates and near
blocks of flats. These banks can also
accept handbags, belts, blankets, bed
linen and curtains.
The textiles which are collected from
your green box or from the textiles
bank are sorted in to different piles,
according to their condition, and are
then either sent for reuse (including
to charity) or are recycled to be made
into something completely different.
Cotton and linen can be transformed
into wipers and wool can
wipers,
be co
converted into felt
for r
roofing, or made
in
into a new yarn.
M
Mattresses can also
be recycled, if
you take them to
G
Greenford depot
(Gre
(Greenford Road).
‘IT IS THE LEAST
DO
WE CAN DO’
Backing the campaign is singersongwriter Azadeh, who toured recently
with Robert Cray and Jools Holland
and performed at the Hop Farm Music
Festival in the summer. After finishing
recording her debut album in Los
Angeles, she is back home in Ealing. She
said: “I need a lot of clothes to perform
in. But I do not like to throw away
clothes, books or jewellery, so I would
rather sell them at car boot sales or give
them away to charity shops. Or, now that
I know I can put clothing out in my green
recycling box, I’ll be doing that too.
“I buy a lot of clothes from charity
shops too – I love doing it. I bought
this black dress from a local charity
shop before touring with Deacon Blue.
“When you think about the things
we waste, the least we can do is give
clothes you no longer need to charity
– and there is always someone who will
love something you no longer want.
“To find out that one million
tonnes is wasted in the UK per year is
shocking. It is unacceptable.
“I think it is important to set an
example to other boroughs on this
because if we work together we can
make a huge difference – and not just
with clothes, because I think London
should be at the forefront of the
recycling movement.”
MORE INFO
■
Clothes:
loveyourclothes.org.uk
■
Textiles:
www.ealing.gov.uk/recycling
■
Accession community shops:
Donate and buy
www.accessionpartnership.com/
community-retail
■
Azadeh: https://twitter.com/
azadehmusic or AzadehMusicTV
on YouTube
■
Independent blog on
second-hand clothes in Ealing:
huntresslondon.blogspot.co.uk
*WRAP figures 2012
around ealing
Autumn 2014
33