Your old, unwanted clothes can be turned into building materials

A pile of clothes

Could waste clothes be turned into something useful?

Richard Levine/Alamy Stock Photo

Used and unwanted clothes could be converted into building materials instead of winding up in landfill. This is using a technique whereby last season’s must-haves are shredded and turned into solid panels for floors or walls.

Today’s abundance of cheap clothes and short-lived fashion trends mean that most garments are thrown out after a few seasons, generating 10 million tons of landfill in the US alone each year. As they gradually decompose, they release toxic chemicals and greenhouse gases.

Not only is this bad …