The Landfill Project - Making Secondhand Second Nature
- Brian Perry
- Apr 8
- 2 min read
“When I heard that it takes 1800 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans, because of the amount of cotton it takes to grow, or 712, gallons to make a cotton t-shirt like the jeans—it's equivalent to a little less than, I think, nine years drinking water for one person—I knew I had to do something, and so we did the Landfill Project. So every time someone purchases something in the store, we weigh it. Then if we do something called ‘snap and share’ where we have a board and it's a picture of a garbage truck, and we put the weight in the garbage truck of what they saved. If they take a photo of that poster board, they save 10% that day. Right now, I think we're about 850 pounds in four months that we've saved from the landfill in store.”
Project ReWear Founder, Kimberly Lau, Forbes.com, April 2025.
In just four months, our community has achieved something incredible, saving over 900 pounds of clothing from ending up in landfills! The power of a community committed to sustainability knows no bounds.
Here’s just how much your impact matters:
900 lbs of cotton-based clothing could require over 1,350,000 gallons of water to produce - enough for nearly 10 million cups of coffee or more than 6 Olympic-sized swimming pools. (WWF, "The Impact of a Cotton T-Shirt")
900 lbs of clothing would use roughly 2,500 to 5,000 kWh, which is equivalent to powering a typical U.S. home for 2–6 months. (European Commission, "Environmental Improvement Potential of Textiles")
900 lbs of clothing equals 24,000 lbs of CO₂ emissions, the same as driving about 13,500 miles in a gas-powered car. (WRAP UK, "Valuing Our Clothes")
Each pre-loved item purchased is not just a piece of clothing saved, but a step towards reducing demand for new textiles and lowering our carbon footprint.
After the devastating start to the year that the LA community faced, it’s clear Los Angeles does not give up. Our community is so strong and inspiring, and we are so grateful.
Let's celebrate these successes and encourage others to join our mission. Keep sharing your stories, spreading the word, get inspired by the wonderful range of preloved clothing available to you, and most importantly, keep making those eco-friendly choices.
913 lbs and growing! Together, we can turn sustainable fashion into the norm rather than the exception, making Thank you for being part of this incredible journey!
Learn more about our Landfill Project here.