Recycled Linens Find New Life

It’s been said that one person’s junk is another’s treasure. While you might not think of old bed linens from a medical facility as treasures, believe it or not, they’re finding new life. Cuyuna Regional Medical Center’s Environmental Services Director, SJ Wieczoreak, explains how the medical facility is taking steps to be greener. “We asked around to see if any area thrift stores could maybe benefit from our old linens we were pulling from circulation, whether they were worn, stained, or simply unrepairable. For the past 6 months, we’ve been taking donations to Salem West in Deerwood.”

Salem West and Bridges of Hope, two area nonprofits, partnered up and received funding last year for their textile recycling program. While the thrift stores have always recycled fabric, now they can make money doing it. The program takes unusable fiber, yarn, or fabric that can’t be sold at the thrift store and repurposes it. The items are baled together, sold, and processed again to make insulation, carpet padding, and rags.

“We are just thankful to find a place that can utilize them so that they can get repurposed. It’s being green, keeping things out of the landfill. We pay for our waste here at the medical facility to throw items away, whereas this is a free donation. I’m a huge advocate of recycling, keeping things out of landfills, and embracing the repurpose aspect of things,” said Wieczoreak. “We plan to continue to do this.”

Are you interested in donating some of your old fabric or damaged clothing? Items must be free of mold, mildew, and smoke and can be dropped off during donation hours at Common Goods in Baxter, Crosby, and Crosslake, and at Salem West in Deerwood.

For more information contact the thrift stores:
Common Goods – Baxter 218-824-0923
Common Goods – Crosby 218-772-2999
Common Goods – Crosslake 218-692-7682
Salem West – Deerwood 218-534-4962