Many of us can find multiple pieces of clothing that we don’t wear anymore. Statistics show Americans will each throw away about 82 pounds of clothes this year alone. Discarding clothes irresponsibly poses a major environmental threat: When your favorite cotton pants or that old polyester shirt ends up in a landfill, it contributes to the growing problem of textile waste.
Researchers at Cornell University have come up with a way to curb this problem of our discarded garments winding up in a landfill. They’re working on breathing new life into our old clothes by upcycling the polyester to make new products. Applications of upcycling our old garments include making fabric that’s fire resistant, antibacterial, and wrinkle free.
Join us as we welcome one of those researchers, Juan Hinestroza, the Rebecca Q. Morgan ’60 Professor of Fiber Science & Apparel Design at the Cornell University College of Human Ecology. Professor Hinestroza will take a closer look at the environmental impact of throwing away our clothes and explain how he’s using the chemical makeup of our old clothes to give them new life.
