A newly approved city program will allow residents to recycle unwearable clothes without leaving home. Under the program, approved by the Common Council’s Public Works Committee, residents can schedule a pickup time for their unwanted textiles and drop them, in a bag or box, by the curb to be taken away and recycled.
“Pertains to old clothing, shoes, belts, handbags and those types of products that would normally end up in the waste stream of garbage, or maybe you might be fortunate enough to give it away to the Salvation Army or those in need,” Chief of Operations and Public Works Anthony Carr said. Currently, Norwalk has drop-off bins across the city where residents can deposit bags of clothes to be recycled. The bins, operated by the company USAgain, are emptied weekly, Carr said.
The new program, called Helpsy, is currently in use in Stamford, Helpsy representative Lisa Sciannella said. Norwalk will be the second Connecticut municipality to work with the company, but 10 municipalities in Massachusetts, including Cambridge and Boston, have Helpsy services.