Did you know it is extremely difficult to recycle textiles? Apart from just reselling, the actual act of changing a piece of clothing can be very time consuming and expensive, which is why many clothing companies choose to produce mass waste instead.
Not anymore.
With Fabscrap, a new clothing company aimed at finding a second use for clothing items, whether that be at their physical second-hand shop or at their large recycling facility, there's always another option for tossing old clothes.
"I think opening in LA gives us a really good blueprint for how we might be able to franchise this to other major cities," said founder Jessica Schrieber. Schrieber got the funding for her business after pitching to Project Runway: Fashion Startup. Prior to this position, she was working in New York City’s Bureau of Recycling and Sustainability. She saw an unfulfilled need for fashion houses and the next step in textiles.
The Fabscrap site is run by fashion-oriented volunteers, 2,017 of them to be exact. Landfills are filled with textiles and fabrics, occupying about 5% of the space there. Not only that, but fabrics are responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. By finding new ways to recycle and repurpose clothes, companies like Fabscrap are able to reduce emissions and save your wallet. It's a win-win!