If you're planning some spring cleaning for your closet, you might be wondering how to responsibly get rid of all your decluttered clothing. Meet Trashie, a company that makes recycling easy and gives your clothing a second life — all while rewarding you in the process.
How does Trashie's Take Back program work?
Getting started with Trashie is easy: just order a Take Back Bag from the Trashie website, fill it with clothing you no longer need, and send it in. Once your bag arrives, Trashie inspects and sorts each item to keep as much as possible out of landfills — either by giving it a second life as reused clothing or recycling it into new materials.
Trashie reports that about 90% of the items they receive are kept out of landfills. Roughly 70% of items are reused, often sent overseas to communities where secondhand clothing is essential. Trashie notes that over 70% of the global population wears used clothing, typically out of economic need. The remaining 20% of accepted items are recycled into new materials, like pet bedding, punching bag stuffing, industrial rags, and more.
And it's not just clothes. Trashie accepts a wide range of items, including shoes, sheets, towels, handbags, scarves, and even jewelry. That makes it one of the most comprehensive recycling programs for textiles and beyond — and ideal for clearing out more than just your wardrobe.
Each Take Back Bag takes a $20 investment, which covers shipping and processing of your items. But the fee more than pays for itself. In return, you'll get $30 in "TrashieCash" rewards plus the satisfaction of decluttering sustainably.
The program functions a bit like a club in that you can redeem those rewards at eco-conscious brands like Blueland, Allbirds, and Cozy Earth. And as a Trashie user, you'll also unlock exclusive deals from popular brands like Casper, Regal Cinemas, Crocs, Uber, and more.
Why should I recycle with Trashie?
The fashion industry ranks as one of the world's top environmental offenders, producing enormous amounts of pollution and waste. While buying less clothing is an important part of the solution, it's just as crucial to declutter responsibly, making sure our unwanted clothing is put to good use rather than ending up in a landfill.
That's where Trashie wants to step in. Recycling with Trashie is a simple, effective way to reduce your environmental impact. And the numbers speak for themselves. Each Take Back Bag can divert up to 15 pounds of textile waste from landfills and prevent more than 150 pounds of carbon pollution — the equivalent of not burning 75 pounds of coal.
Considering that the fashion industry is responsible for around 10% of global carbon pollution, choosing to recycle your clothing instead of tossing it makes a real difference.
Are there similar programs to Trashie?
Trashie isn't the only company working to keep wearable clothing out of landfills, though The Cool Down rates it as the best option for used clothing items that are unlikely to resell at a consignment or thrift store, as the program even welcomes used socks and underwear.
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Giving me money back 💰 ThredUp offers a similar service, though it puts more of a target on resellable items by functioning more like a consignment store — just request a prepaid Clean Out Kit, fill it with clothes you no longer want, and send it back. ThredUp will list the items that meet their standards, and you'll earn a portion of the sale price after a $14.99 processing fee per bag. Anything ThredUp doesn't accept is either donated or responsibly recycled.
Textile recycling company Retold operates similarly to Trashie and ThredUp, sending you a bag to send in textile waste in any condition. Once received, the company sorts the contents for reuse or recycling into new fibers. The company charges $15.50 per bag, but doesn't have cash or reward perks like Trashie or ThredUp.
But if you'd rather keep things local, check out nearby consignment or resale shops where you can earn some cash for your gently used clothing.
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