“The second-largest pollution source in the world is from apparel and textiles, starting from the fiber source to the afterlife (Planet Aid, 2018). Consumer consumption from fast fashion, which involves producing inexpensively made clothes in a fast timeframe, has contributed to the disposal of apparel and thus the increase in landfill waste (Choi, 2013). In addition, 15% of fabric waste is generated from the cutting and sewing of textiles (Oscha, n.d.). Options to avoid the landfill are donating, reselling, textile recycling, and upcycling or repurposing.  

The overall purpose of this three-stage research was to understand how apparel and textile waste is managed locally. During stage one, what happens to apparel, and textiles left behind at K-State were tracked. Through interviews, findings indicated items are donated to Goodwill, intentional programs, or were thrown into the landfills. In stage two, we focused on fabric scraps by interviewing personnel at recycling centers and searching websites. With no options locally, we searched to national centers to find only a limited number of centers accepting fabric scraps. Thus, this led to stage three, developing a product using fabric scraps.  

Product development from fabric scraps has included creating garments, pet items, as well as other projects. Due to the findings from stage one, that the veterinary program accepts gently used towels, the focus for product development was dog items with a dog bed selected. Fabric scraps from the fashion program were collected and made into a large dog bed. Future research will be conducted to test the dog bed and make revisions. ”

— Agel Yor