On April 14, Colorado-based apparel company Smartwool announced plans to make all products circular by 2030 – starting with your socks. Smartwool is best known for its active clothing and cozy, high-quality Merino wool socks.
Socks are one of the most thrown-away clothing items. After all, who wants old socks? The latest Smartwool survey revealed that while over 80% of respondents recycle their used clothing, 91% are throwing away more than one pair of socks each year. This is contributing to approximately 11.3 tons of textile waste that end up in landfills annually.
Alicia Chin, Smartwool’s senior manager of sustainability and social impact, said:
There is obviously an urgent need for a recycling solution in the sock category, which is where we’re focusing our initial efforts.
Smartwool launched the Second Cut Project to close the recycling gap and provide a home for those worn-out socks. On April 22 (Earth Day), Smartwool began recycling old socks—no matter what the brand.
The Smartwool Second Cut Project will give products a “second cut” at life and create a more circular supply chain that extends raw materials’ life – offering a new sourcing stream and reducing environmental impact.
Smartwool retailers in forty-two states had collection bins until May 2, where people could drop off their used (but clean) socks. There is still an option to send your old socks to the company, but you will need to buy an item from the website first. Once you make your purchase, there will be a free mailer bag option at the check-out point.
All of these socks that are saved from landfills will be turned into filling for cozy dog beds. The company expects the beds to be available for purchase by Christmas.
Chin added:
Circularity. What an idea. To make a product and also build a system to keep it out of the landfill after its first use is no small feat. But it’s the right thing to do.
If you like the idea of recycled dog beds, then you’ll like Brazilian artist Amarildo Silva’s cute animal beds made from discarded tires. In addition to beds, he started turning the tires into beautiful flower pots and garden containers as well.
