11.1 Million Tons of Textiles End Up in Landfills Every Year, Don't Let Fashion Go to Waste
NEW YORK, March 19, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Global retailer H&M and not-for-profit organization DoSomething.org are teaming up with actress Victoria Justice for their second annual Comeback Clothes campaign, an initiative aimed towards collecting unwanted clothing and textiles to recycle them into a new life. Beginning today through May 31st, participants can collect any old or unwanted clothing and textiles and bring them into any H&M store. In return, participants will receive 20% off their next H&M purchase. Young people who sign up for the campaign at comeback-clothes.com will have the chance to win a $10,000 scholarship or a $4,000 school grant, and are encouraged to get their schools and local communities involved.
Rising star Victoria Justice, star of the new MTV cyber thriller, “Eye Candy” serves as the face of this year’s campaign by starring in the public service announcement for Comeback Clothes encouraging fans to recycle their unwanted clothing. “Living a conscious lifestyle is important to me and the Comeback Clothes campaign makes it so easy to help the planet,” said Victoria Justice. “Everyone has a solo sock or ripped t-shirt that they can keep out of a landfill.”
After learning that the vast majority of fabric can be recycled, yet 85% of all textiles end up in landfills each year, H&M wanted to offer an easy solution to get rid of unwanted clothing while also doing something good for the environment. H&M is the first fashion company to launch a global garment collecting initiative. Since the launch in 2013, almost thirty million pounds of product has been collected. The brands aim is to minimize waste that goes into landfills by finding a solution to reuse and recycle textile fibers for new use. The donated clothing will be sent to a recycling facility where they will be given a new life.
“We are proud to re-launch our partnership with DoSomething.org. Garment Collecting is a key Sustainability initiative for H&M,” says Daniel Kulle, U.S. President for H&M. “In the U.S. to date, we’ve kept more than 400,000 pounds of textiles out of landfills. We want to positively affect the environment by offering our customers a convenient way to recycle their old textiles.”
“Last year, DoSomething.org members recycled over 340,000 pounds of clothing in less than nine weeks,” said Naomi Hirabayashi, chief marketing officer at DoSomething.org. “This is an issue that young people really care about and Comeback Clothes is such an accessible way to help the environment.”
Sustainability is an integral part of H&M’s operations. In an effort to continue to work towards a more sustainable fashion future, H&M’s Conscious Exclusive collection will be launching in select stores and online at hm.com on April 16th. The limited-edition collection, which embodies details derived from global influences and cultures, is made from more sustainable and recycled materials.
To view the Comeback Clothes 2015 PSA starring Victoria Justice, click here
For more information, or to sign up for Comeback Clothes, click here
For more information about H&M’s Sustainability efforts, click here
To view H&M’s Conscious Exclusive 2015 collection, click here
About H&M
H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947. The H&M Group has around 3,500 stores in 55 countries. The company’s business concept is to offer fashion and quality at the best price. To us, quality includes that all our operations should be run in a way that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. By making more sustainable choices available to all our customers around the world, we can together contribute to a more sustainable fashion future. For further information, visit hm.com/sustainability.
About DoSomething.org
DoSomething.org makes the world suck less. One of the largest orgs for young people and social change, our 3.5 million members tackle campaigns that impact every cause, from poverty to violence to the environment to literally everything else. Any cause, anytime, anywhere. *mic drop
