Textile Recycling Spotlight: Retold Recycling

July 26, 2022

Nicole had the honor of chatting with Amelia Trumble, one of the co-founders of Retold Recycling to hear all about how Retold came to be and what they're doing to help divert tons (literally) of clothing from the landfill. 

"There has to be an easier way." - Amelia 

Amelia discovered her need for Retold when overhauling and renovating her closet...how do we get unwanted garments out of our homes without hurting the environment and also not driving ourselves crazy trying to find the right place for each item?

Amelia and co-founders, Noelle Delory and Alan Yeoh, are on a mission to divert as many textiles from the landfill as possible and make it easy thing to do for the average consumer. They do the work for you! 

Here's how it works: 

• Purchase your Retold bag online or even better, set up a subscription.
• While you wait for your bright and fun compostable Retold bag to arrive, gather all the unwanted textiles you have around the house: worn out socks, old undies, maybe even an old swimsuit and stuff them into the bag. (Make sure items are clean and not wet to make it easier on the Retold crew!) 
• Stuff the bag!
• Drop it at the Post Office.
• Retold takes it from there to divert all of your items from the landfill! 

So, what happens to the textiles?

Retold works with vetted partners to sort your goods upon arrival. Depending upon each item, it will be sent out to more partners, including: thrift stores, donation centers, recyclers, resellers and up-cyclers. Don't worry, they make sure the donation centers get what they NEED versus dumping on them. Your unwanted garments could even be turned into insulation or rags! 

How can I participate? 

Amelia suggests starting with undies and socks if you feel too overwhelmed. Order a bag to keep in your closet and add to your bag as you come across unwanted items. Also, she said, "TELL YOUR FRIENDS!" about Retold to spread the word about operation #nolandfill. 

As a special thank you for being a new customer, Retold is offering 10% off site wide for any new Retold customers with the code HANDMEUP10.