The US generates 13 million tons of textile waste annually.
That equates to 2,150 pounds per second. Companies overproduce, then we overbuy.
Over time, the quality of our clothing has gone down, and the quantity that we buy has gone way up. On average today, an article of clothing is worn 7-10 times before being discarded.
Donating unwanted clothes has always been seen as a socially responsible way to increase the lifespan of your clothes, but in reality about 50% of donated clothes are not in a suitable condition to be sold. This means that most of the clothes we dispose of are sent overseas, to a landfill, or to be incinerated.
So what do we do about this?
We work in the Richmond area to increase educational outreach on this topic and partner with members of the community to provide an ethical channel for people to dispose of unusable and unwearable textiles.
Pop Up Stop was born in the VCU Fashion department in 2013 to be a method for fashion design students to have a place to trade and dispose of fabric scraps.
As word spread about the bins, individuals and organizations used the bins to place their unwanted textiles and garments instead of throwing them in the trash. By 2015, over one ton of textile waste had been diverted from landfills to be reused or downcycled into shoddy, a fiber made from shredded textile waste that has many industrial applications.
To expand on these efforts, Guthrie developed POP UP STOP which is based on education and outreach on the environmental issues of textile waste.
Pop Up Stop has had measurable success since its launch in 2021 with initial funding from VCU’s CEnR REAL IMPACT Grant followed by a 2022 Dean’s Faculty Exploratory Grant. The program has created partnerships with the City of Richmond, Goodwill, VCU Housing, VSU, and GMU, Cosby HS, along with a handful of local organizations. The program continues to attract dedicated student volunteers and notable this year is the addition of three UROP Federal Work Study Research Assistants. The program was able to start weighing the collected textiles in February 2024 diverting over 1,300 pounds of discarded garments and textiles from landfills.
We are expanding our outreach and encouraging other university campuses along with high schools, clubs, and faith organizations to host a Pop Up Stop event or box.