The Trashie Take Back Bag is small yet mighty.
Each of the brightly colored bags singularly saves 151 pounds of toxic atmospheric pollution— the equivalent of driving 2,000 miles — from the lower atmosphere. It also saves 1,596 gallons of fresh water, which is the equivalent of eight weeks' worth of showers.
How does Trashie do it? By diverting textile waste from landfills — and actually recycling it. And the best part? Consumers earn money by doing it.
In a global economy based on mass production and overconsumption, Trashie is looking to make the clothing industry less damaging for the planet.
The average American throws away approximately 80 pounds of clothing per year, per Earth.org. And as these garments pile up in landfills — and on beaches — they leach harmful chemicals and dyes into the surrounding environment.
But not only that, the production of fast fashion is tremendously resource-intensive. The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water in the world, per the U.N. Environment Programme.
And as more people learn the truth behind their clothing hauls, they're seeking ways to shop more ethically.
The problem? There's no great way to ensure your used clothing goes to good use. Thrift shops often end up with so many donations that they simply ship them overseas, where most of them are tossed or burned in pollutive fires.
Enter Trashie, whose recycling model is taking off for both price- and environmentally conscious consumers. For only $20, which includes shipping, each Trashie Take Back Bag can accommodate up to 15 pounds of textile waste, including washed shoes, bags, clothes, and linens.
In exchange, users receive immediate cash back in the form of $30 in TrashieCash, which can be redeemed directly for deals with favorite brands such as AMC Theatres, HelloFresh, Kind Bars, and more. (If you're crunching those numbers and thinking it sounds too good to be true, it really is: You're earning money to recycle your clothes.)
Trashie then sorts and grades the contents of each Take Back Bag in "the most advanced facility in North America," according to its website. During that process, employees identify which items are able to be sold to clothing resellers. Those that aren't are recycled through downcycling and fiber-to-fiber partners. This keeps 90% of all the contents in a Trashie Take Back Bag out of landfills.
"Our goal is to become everyone's default choice for clothing recycling," Trashie writes on its website. "When we work together at scale, it's a huge step forward for circularity, igniting the systems change we all want to see in the world."
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