Torn Sheets

I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to prevent items no longer of use from heading to the dump. Yes, it does take up some time, but it makes me feel so much better when I've come up with a solution. Should it go to the charity shop, can it be given away for free on freecycle or full circles or other websites (or possibly even sold). Could a friend use it? And so on.

Well, several bottom sheets that had been torn by a dog (who shall remain nameless), revelling in the glory of being on my bed, got the better of me. They couldn't possibly be of any use to anyone, or so I figured. I wasn't about to give up though. Perhaps there was an organization that could use them as rags. I googled this and found that such organizations did exist and further that they could also be recycled as stuffing in car upholstery. But I couldn't find any contact information. How to figure this out?

It was fairly straightforward as it turns out, but the results surprised me. I contacted my local freecycle/full circles group and left a message on the chat portion requesting advice. Within minutes I had people with not only suggestions, but requests for my old ripped up sheets! The two most interesting ones were a woman wanting them for incontinent pets and the other hoping to use them for recycled crafts, which would give them life beyond one further step in the bottom of an animal bed.

I was so chuffed by this, because crafting using recycled materials is near and dear to my heart, that I immediately got in touch with her and she explained that she tears the material into strips and knits things with them. The winner! I loved it. Have yet to see any of her products, but I know they exist.

A nice corollary of this was the childhood memories evoked of my mother sitting with us in front of the television ripping and ripping pieces of fabric to be woven into rag rugs.