Hansen environmental club adds bin for recycling clothing

You may have noticed a new green bin near the front of Hansen elementary near the parent drop-off zone. Environmental club director and 6th grade teacher Jeremy Swanson said, “This bin comes to us from a locally operated recycling franchise named ClothesOn that offers the community clothing and shoes recycling and fundraising for schools. This clothes bin partners with schools to keep textiles out of landfill and achieve a greener local environment by giving parents and students a convenient place to recycle their unwanted clothing, shoes, and textiles in any condition, and the school can benefit year-round from the fundraising portion of the Clothes Bin Recycling Program.” 

The list of accepted recycling items includes pants, jeans, skirts, dresses, shorts, shirts, shoes, socks, hats, belts, wallets, purses, luggage, backpacks, towels, sheets, comforters and blankets.

In past years schools in the area have earned around $1,000  or more annually from this program, empowering students to take an active role in environmental stewardship. Swanson said, “By implementing the Fill the Bin program and adding textile recycling, we are teaching valuable lessons about sustainability and creating a tangible impact on our community and beyond.”

Sixth grader and member of the environmental club for the second year, Charlotte June, said, “At the end of the school year last year a recycling matter was brought to our attention, and through research we learned  that every year, the average person disposes of 81 pounds of textiles with only 15 percent being reclaimed or recycled, while the other 85 percent spends around 40 years decomposing in the landfills. That is 26 billion pounds of textiles releasing harmful CO2 and methane into our atmosphere.”

June said, “These bins just started popping up in the big cities in Iowa in the middle of last year, so we were grateful we could bring it to the Cedar Falls community, and I hope more will pop up in the area later in the year.”

Lastly Swanson said, “So if you have lost a pair of one of your shoes or socks, have torn or stained clothes, old rags or any other unwanted items that would otherwise go to a landfill, we encourage you to place them in this bin. Thank you for helping us decrease our landfill waste and fundraising for our school by spreading the news about the clothes bin.”

This bin can be found at the front of Hansen Elementary at the end of the parent drop-off zone going to the left all the way up on the sidewalk.

To learn more about Clothes Bin’s positive impact on the environment and why they started, check out their website at fillthebins.com. Happy recycling.