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PARK CITY — Used underwear often ends up getting tossed out with the trash, but one local recycling outfit is asking women to put their old bras to better use.
While a lot of people may giggle about the prospects of recycling old underwear, Britte Kirsch, a spokeswoman and volunteer coordinator for Recycle Utah,said hundreds of bras have already been turned in and redistributed by a partnering Arizona-based textile recycling company, "to women who need them."
Yes, bras can be recycled and, yes, people want them.
–Britte Kirsch, Recycle Utah
"Yes, bras can be recycled and, yes, people want them," she said.
The bras that can be used — those that are still functioning and are clean — are provided to women within communities throughout the country, but also in struggling countries worldwide.
The Park City Recycle Utah warehouse is the first and only facility in the state to offer the bra recycling program, as operations manager Shannon Beglin said there's no money in it and many other, larger organizations wouldn't have the time. They recycle all kinds of merchandise, including paper, cardboard, aluminum and old cell phones, all of which bring in a small profit for the center, to help keep it operating.
The facility also gathers foil packaging from various products, such as energy bars, chips and drink boxes, among others, and that material gets turned for a profit as well.
Other items, however, are collected purely on the basis of decreasing human impact on the earth, providing a more sustainable environment, Kirsch said.
The Park City facility is also the only location that will accept used car seats, and people send those in from all over the country to be put to an alternative use. Kirsch said they've seen more than 500 of the "big, plastic car seats" in the two years the program has been available.
"We're always looking for new ideas and new things to collect … so nothing goes to the landfill." Britte Kirsch, Recycle Utah
A lot of old electronic items, as well as printer cartridges, spent batteries, rubber inner tubes and tennis shoes also make their way to the facility. Beglin said Nike ends up taking all the old sneakers and redistributing them in struggling countries. "It's just an agreement we have with them," he said. "Unless they're too damaged to do anything with, and in that case, the materials are ground up and recycled."
Used bras are the same way. If they're unusable, the old bras will be broken down and the various materials will be reused for other products.
"We're always looking for new ideas and new things to collect … so nothing goes to the landfill," Kirsch said, adding that the bras that have been collected so far, "have not been worn that much."
"Generally, people swap out their bras pretty quickly," she said. Kirsch said that while the bra recycling program seems a little strange at first, it is fairly well received, and as more women hear about it, she's seeing more bags of old, used bras showing up on her desk.
If they can't be dropped off at the Park City facility, at 1951 Woodbine Way, individuals can also mail their own used bras to the Arizona company. More information can be found online, at www.BraRecyclers.com.
Email:wleonard@ksl.com
