Scandinavian Living Center Of West Newton To Host Clothing Drive

NEWTON, MA — The Scandinavian Living Center of West Newton will host a clothing drive on Saturday, December 4 from noon to 3 p.m. to divert textiles from becoming trash and raise money for the Erling Johansen Resident Subsidy Fund.

Residents are encouraged to use the opportunity to clean out closets and bring any gently used, outgrown, outdated, worth, torn, or stained items no longer wanted. All items collected will be recycled and and coats will be donated separately to the nonprofit organization Cradled to Crayons to benefit children in need.

This recycling effort is made possible through a partnership with HELPSY, the largest clothing recycling collector in the Northeast. Each year, HELPSY diverts nearly 30 million pounds of textiles from landfills through a combination of clothing drives, collection bins, thrift store partners, and curbside pickups.

“HELPSY is dedicated to changing the way people think about clothing recycling whileadhering to the highest level of social and environmental performance,” said Dan Green, CEO and Cofounder of HELPSY, in a statement.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that nearly 100 pounds of clothing gets thrown away by the average person every year. Of that amount, approximately 95 percent can be reused or recycled but only 15 percent actually is.

For more information about the clothing drive at the Scandinavian Living Center, contact Alie Mahar at 617-467-3177.