Fall is almost here and means new fashion, new clothes and new styles! But before you go on your next shopping trip, think about what you’re going to do with your old clothes. If you usually throw them away, just remember that dumping them contributes to over 11 million tons of waste in landfills, as estimated by the EPA.

Therefore don’t dump em, instead repair ‘em, and recycle ‘em! If the thought of repairing your clothes by hand seems daunting, don’t worry because clothing stores like Patagonia have handy guides on how to repair your clothes, including everything from stitching up a tear and sewing a button to destaining. And when you don’t want to repair but just give them away, Patagonia lets you trade in your old clothes for a gift card and uses your clothes to create new material! Stores like H&M also offer in-shop recycling where you can just give them your old clothes and they’ll pass it on to second-hand clothing stores, thus giving your clothes a new life and minimizing textile waste. And of course there is always Goodwill of the Finger Lakes!

Want to double your impact? Next time you’re buying something new, keep your eye out of products made from already recycled materials! Companies like Nomadix have been using recycled plastic bottles to make textiles items like towels and blankets and are committed to using eco-friendly practices!