Consumers often hear of (or assume) big clothing brand’s wastefulness in manufacturing their products for retail stores. It’s not uncommon; walk into any modern American shopping mall and you’re confronted with dozens of top-brand choices. But at what cost to the environment? Sure, there are stories of sweatshops and illegal, underpaid workers, but what about waste?  Textiles are easy to recycle, but when was the last time you heard your favorite clothing store mention a recycling or reuse initiative?  What do they do with all of their leftover textiles? In an increasingly environmentally-aware world, why aren’t more brands flexing their green muscles in the media spotlight?

American Apparel is one company that not only takes recycling and reuse seriously but is letting it be known to consumers who can participate in the process.  Other than devoting an entire page to their environmental awareness, American Apparel also sells the Bag-o-Scraps, a 1.6 pound grab bag of leftover textiles from their Los Angeles factory to be reused in any way the buyer sees fit.  Make your own shirt, dress or costume.  Cover that hole on your favorite pair of jeans.  Sure, the sheer diversity of the textiles (leopard print?) will make it difficult to perfectly match some of the strips together, but isn’t that half the fun?  Besides, for a small price you are helping keep wasted textiles out of landfills.  What could be better than that?

Are there any other clothing brands/companies doing something similar?  The USAgain team wants to hear from you!

Stay tuned for more from USAgain!