BirdieBlue would not be able to save as much old gear from landfills without our partners. One of those partners we are proud to work with is Apparel Impact.
Video courtesy of Jessie Crow, who is sorting damaged and no longer useable outdoor gear for BirdieBlue at the Apparel Impact Warehouse in New Hampshire.
Apparel Impact is a Family and Veteran Owned operated business that focuses on the recovery of textiles and the support of communities throughout the country and is a highly regarded, family owned, veteran owned recycling company that truly understands the value of giving back and supporting their communities while having a primary mission to reduce waste and improve the environment.
Apparel Impact started in 2014 as a New England textile recycler and community support company. Within 5 years, Apparel Impact became the fastest growing textile recycler in the northeastern U.S.; growing from a small regional provider to a multi-state business with over 1,350 partners and customers ranging from small businesses, non-profit organizations, government partners to Fortune 500 companies.
Photo Courtesy of Apparel Impact in their sorting warehouse.
According to Apparel Impact, every day, more than 1,000 pounds of clothing, shoes, and accessories end up in landfills in EVERY American town. This is not a new issue. For over 40 years, textiles have been burdening our landfills, posing a significant threat to our environment. Unfortunately, the problem is only getting worse, and we're approaching a point of no return. In 1991, the total textile waste across our country was only 1%. However, we're approaching 10%, with no end in sight. Apparel Impact provides towns and municipalities the opportunity to reduce their landfills of textiles and recover them; creating more local jobs, reducing landfill waste and reducing towns overall budgets spent on the disposal of textiles.
And when clothing is a bit too loved to be reworn or donated, Apparel Impact partners with BirdieBlue to keep old gear out of landfills. Together since forming our partnership in 2023, BirdieBlue and Apparel Impact have breathed new life into 1000s of pounds of old ski and snowboard gear in the form of fun, personality BirdieBlue Bags. And we are showing no signs of stopping on our mission to keep our skies blue, our mountains snowcapped, and our #birdieblueadventure game strong.