
textiles
Last year saw a lot of big news. And it wasn’t all bad, especially with local environmental initiatives.
Green Newton recently announced that in 2024, Newton’s textile recycling program collected more than half a million lbs. of textiles.
“Newton residents achieved an incredible milestone in 2024, donating 517,567 pounds of textiles through the city’s recycling collaboration program with Helpsy,” Green Newton’s Kenyon Taylor wrote in a blog post. “These efforts play a crucial role in reducing landfill waste, protecting the environment, and supporting the state’s goal of reducing trash by 30% by 2030.”
Helpsy is a nonprofit organization that helps collect clothing, blankets and other unwanted items for recycling or repurposing.
Newton began its partnership with Helpsy a few years ago with a curbside textile collection, offered by appointment, to help cut down on the amount of textiles sent to landfills every year. The past few years, Helpsy containers are outside some schools in Newton to drop off items at anytime without an appointment. A state law prohibits throwing away textiles such as clothes and shoes in the trash.
About 20% of the donations are completely recycled into new products, while the rest are reused, sold or shredded and turned into wash cloths.
Feel like doing some cleaning and recycling? You can set up a pick-up appointment at www.helpsy.co/newtonma.
Green Newton has a list of items you can recycle with Helpsy on their website.