WASHINGTON —
Every year, the average American throws out more than 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles. These garments end up in landfills and increase greenhouse gases which we know is harmful to our planet.
There is now a program in D.C. called Mending Mondays that will help you extend the life of your garments to keep them out of the landfill.
Jackie Giovanniello is the Community Manager at The Outrage, a clothing store in D.C. that’s geared toward change makers.
Giovanniello spoke about why The Outrage holds events like Mending Mondays by saying, “Our events in general look to build community, spur engagement and action and raise consciousness about the particular issue.”
This is made possible in part thanks to the REUSE sustainability grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and D.C.’s Department of Energy and Environment DOEE.
Ida Arabshahi with the DOEE detailed why these grants are so important to The District.
The "REUSE program is working toward our diversion goal of 80% waste diversion by 2032 in the District. Any opportunities that we can find for people to reuse and repair rather than throwing away and buying new we are trying to promote,” Aabshahi said.
So what exactly is Mending Mondays? It is a fun event that teaches basic sewing skills.
The Outrage will provide teachers to teach you how to upcycle your clothes, so they can have a second life.
Carrie Flett with The Outrage walked us through the different things you can learn how to do at the Mending Mondays event.
“We're going to teach you a lot of different ways you can actually mend holes an items. We can do some embroidery, and we've also got fabric paints so you can paint your own slogans,” Flett said.
Mending only takes minutes and it’s an easy way to help the environment. If you are intimidated by sewing, Flett has a message for you, too: “Dip your toes in, try something, see if it works, see if it's for you before just being scared of it.”
The next Mending Mondays Event is on June 12 from 5:20 p.m. to 7 p.m. You can sign up and get more information here.