recycle Archives - Kat Kuan

Sustainability in fashion is becoming a hot topic, as consumers become more conscious about the impact that their purchases are having on the environment.

The American-made lingerie and sleepwear brand Hanky Panky has an innovative Lingeriecycle program to divert worn out lingerie from landfills.

Lingerie is a problem in our landfills is because often you can’t donate it for reuse at a secondhand store due to hygiene reasons or because the item is too worn out. Furthermore, certain fabrics / trims are not biodegradable.

Through their recycling program, they process the items by separating out the metal components and sending those for metal recycling. The fabric parts of the items are shredded and turned into carpet padding.

Also good news: They accept bras and panties of all brands.

Bravo to this company for taking on this sustainability initiative. The cost of processing these items is an expense that the company is taking on. They hope to lead by example for other retail companies to also become responsible for the end-to-end lifecycle of the products they create.

Here’s how the program works!

1. For every order made on the Hanky Panky website, you can add up to 5 free Lingeriecycle envelopes to your cart. The size of each envelope is 10″ x 13″.

You must use the envelopes they provide because each envelope has a waste management recycling permit issued to it.

2. Once you receive the envelopes, stick your lingerie in there – bras or panties that are worn out and can no longer be used. They ask that you kindly clean them before shipping them off.

FYI: They do mention that gently worn bras can still be donated to local women’s shelters and organizations like Support the Girls.

3. Affix proper postage for the envelopes and send them off!

For sending my items from California, the shipping cost was about $6 per envelope. Depends on how much you stuff in there.

This program is only available in the United States. For all other questions, check out their FAQ page here.

If you enjoyed this post on sustainability, check out these related posts:
Recycle Old Jeans and Get a Coupon Here
Shoes from Recycle Plastic Bottles
Renting Clothes from Rent the Runway
Thrift Shopping at thredUp IRL

We all have jeans that sit at bottom of our drawers or in the back of our closets that we never wear. Some are in great condition and can be donated for secondhand use. But for other denim that is too tattered to be worn, consider bringing them to Madewell to get recycled.

For example, Vince had a pair of really old jeans that had huge rips in them and weren’t usable anymore. To get rid of them in a sustainable way, I brought them to Madewell.

recycle jeans madewell — Bring old jeans

They accept any brand and any style of denim. It’s part of their partnership with Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green program. They turn your old jeans into HOUSING INSULATION for organizations like Habitat for Humanity. How cool is that?!

madewell recycle jeans program — Recycle denim program at Madewell

And in return, you get a $20 off coupon for a new pair of jeans at Madewell. A nice bonus!

I think this is cool because fashion has a serious impact on the environment. If we can make use of clothing that is no longer wearable, and turn it into something useful, then I’m all for it!

To find a Madewell store to drop off at, see this store locator.

recycle

Recycle Old Bras and Underwear

Recycle Old Jeans at Madewell