Curbside Clothing Recycling Coming To Strongsville

STRONGSVILLE, OH — The city is implementing a new program that will allow residents to donate old clothes without ever having to leave their property. A curbside recycled clothes program will start in April, Strongsville announced on social media.

"This is an alternative to throwing away your stained, holey clothing, your old drapes that no one would want, and that single sock whose match was eaten by the washer," Jennifer Milbrandt, the city's coordinator of natural resources said in a statement. "We want to keep textiles out of the landfills. These textiles can be used for rags, stuffing in chairs and other things."

The recycling program will be conducted with the help of Simple Recycling, a company that collects old clothes and uses them for other projects...like stuffing chairs. Ultimately, the company keeps old clothes from collecting in landfills.

"We'd like to stress that this is NOT meant to impact your donations to Goodwill and other charities. This is for old clothes too worn to donate, old drapes no one would want, blankets with holes -- unusable stuff you'd otherwise throw in the trash," the city said in a social media post.

Strongsville is now one of several southwestern Cuyahoga suburbs to partner with Simple Recycling, joining Berea, Olmsted Falls, Olmsted Township, North Olmsted and Parma Heights.

Simple Recycling said that 85 percent of clothes end up in a landfill, with only 15 percent getting recycled. The company wants to change that.

Residents should be getting mailings on the program shortly, the city said. Included with the information will be two bags for use in setting out clothes.

To request more bags or for more information, visit Simblerecycling.com, call (866) 835-5068 or e-mail info@simplerecycling.com.

Photo from Shutterstock