The Brookline Department of Public Works is pleased to announce that Brookline has partnered with Helpsy to offer a free and convenient way for residents to responsibly recycle their unwanted clothing and textiles.
Starting this month, Brookline residents can request for their unwanted clothing and textile items to be picked up by Helpsy at their homes. Pickups will take place weekly on Saturdays between 07:00 a.m. and 05:00 p.m. Residents can schedule a home pickup by visiting here or calling 1-800-244–6350. All items should be placed in a closed bag and left outside by the curb on their assigned collection day. Helpsy will accept donations in any type of bag, so long as the items are dry and clean.
Additionally, residents can drop off clothing, shoes, and textiles 24/7 at two Helpsey drop-off boxes at 815 Newton Street across from Skyline Park. Community members are asked to ensure all donations are bagged and placed inside the bins.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, textile waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the United States, occupying nearly 5% of all landfill space. In an effort to reduce waste statewide, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recently enacted new waste ban regulations that prohibit textiles, including clean clothing, footwear, bedding, towels, curtains, fabrics, and more, from being disposed of. Effective Tuesday, November 01, 2022, these items must be recycled or donated for reuse.
“Helpsy and Brookline share a commitment to keep clothing out of our landfills, and give clothing the longest life possible through various recycling methods. We are thrilled to begin this partnership with Helpsy so that we may combine our efforts to keep unwanted textiles from incineration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Brookline Zero Waste Program Manager Katie Weatherseed.
As the largest clothing collector in the Northeast, Helpsy partners with municipalities and organizations across 11 states to collect unwanted clothing and other textiles in order to keep clothes out of landfills. Brookline is the 24th town to partner with Helpsy, joining 13 other municipalities in Massachusetts offering this service.
In 2021 alone, Helpsy diverted nearly 30 million pounds of textiles from landfills through a combination of clothing drives, home pickups, thrift store partnerships, and clothing receptacles. The collected textiles are either resold to thrift stores, turned into rags for industrial use, or repurposed as stuffing and insulation.
“Helpsy’s mission is to keep clothes out of the trash,” Helpsy Co-Founder & CEO Dan Green said. “We are dedicated to changing the way people think about clothing recycling while adhering to the highest level of social and environmental performance.”
Helpsy is a B Corp Certification, meaning that the business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving, to supply chain practices and input materials.
Helpsy’s service replaces Brookline’s former textile collection service offered by Simple Recycling.
For more information about this program, please visit here or here.
