Great advice to help you to live more sustainably.
DON’T BIN YOUR OLD BRAS!
Wendy Graham discovers ways to recycle old underwear for good.
IF you’re cleaning out your underwear drawer, don’t bin bras you don’t wear. Whilst you can’t donate them to charity shops, there are many clever recycling schemes that help to stop this type of waste from going to landfill whilst benefiting good causes.
If you have any gently used bras that no longer fit, or new, unworn bras that you don’t plan on wearing, you can donate these to the Scottish charity Smalls For All.
After quality checking them, the bras are sent out to girls and women in both Africa and the UK.
Within the UK, Smalls For All helps charities that focus on alleviating poverty.
In Africa, it helps those living in orphanages, slums, internally displaced persons camps and schools.
Donations also go to those in hospitals suffering from medical conditions like obstetric fistula – a post-birth complication.
Another good option is to donate to Against Breast Cancer.
This charity takes your unwanted or unloved bras – in any condition – which it uses to help raise vital funds for pioneering breast cancer research.
The textiles are recovered by Against Breast Cancer’s recycling partners and given a new lease of life.
Plus, for every tonne of bras collected, Against Breast Cancer receives £700 to fund its research.
You can post your old bras directly to Against Breast Cancer.
Alternatively, you can use the postcode locator on its website to find a bra bank near you.
Finally, underwear retailer Bravissimo runs its own charity bra recycling scheme. Head to one of its 25 UK stores and place any unwanted bras (from any brand) in its collection bin.
For every kilogram of bras collected, a donation is made to Women’s Aid – the national charity working to end domestic abuse against women and children.
Bravissimo’s recycling partner then separates the materials and components from the bras before recycling them.
Some materials are recycled for padding for insulation or reworked to make car seats.
Even the dust from these processes can cleverly be made into recycled cardboard!
Fighting Fires
People are being urged not to throw used batteries in the bin – particularly lithium-ion batteries – after a fire recently broke out in a bin lorry in West Yorkshire. Instead, batteries should b
