Okay, so I’ve been seeing a lot of buzz about this H&M recycling “scandal” and I wanted to dig in myself. I mean, I’ve dropped clothes off at those bins in their stores before, thinking I was doing a good thing, right?
First, I gathered all my old clothes. I’m talking stuff with holes, stains, things I haven’t worn in ages. The kind of stuff you wouldn’t even donate, you know?
My Little Experiment
Then, I went to a few different H&M stores around town. I wanted to see if the process was the same everywhere. At each store, I found the recycling bin – usually near the checkout. They all looked pretty similar, just a big box with some info about their garment collecting program.
- I stuffed my unwanted garments into the bins.
- I also noticed a few people doing that.
- I asked some of the store staff about what happens to the clothes, but honestly, they didn’t seem to know much. Just general stuff like “they get recycled or reused.”
I started researching online. That’s where things got murky. I found articles and reports claiming that a lot of these clothes don’t actually get recycled. Some supposedly end up in landfills overseas, or get downcycled into things like insulation, which isn’t exactly ideal.
And I must admit that I also found some reports, articles, and videos that show there were severe problems.
Honestly, it’s a bit disheartening. I wanted to believe that my old clothes were getting a new life, but now I’m not so sure. It feels like there’s a big gap between what these companies say they’re doing and what’s actually happening. And I realized I still needed to be more cautious.
I’m definitely going to be more careful about where I get rid of my clothes from now on. Maybe look for smaller, local textile recycling programs, or try to repurpose things myself. It’s a bummer, but I guess it’s a good reminder that we can’t always take these big corporate initiatives at face value.
