According to the Salvation Army we, in the UK, consign 700,000 tonnes of textiles and 100 million pairs of shoes to landfills every year. They add that this is the equivalent of a staggering 1½ billion gallons of oil in raw materials and energy required to manufacture them. The "Sally" Army are one of the largest recyclers of textiles in the UK, operating since 1991. You'll find their recycle bins at many of the nation's recycle centres (there are 1,700 of them). They grade materials and use the textiles in three ways:

	Charitable - reasonable quality materials are used in disaster relief or sold through charity shops.
	Rough Uses - insulation materials, fabric-based wipes, stuffing for upholstery.
	Raw Materials - Fibres are pulled to produce new fibres for new clothes, blankets, carpets, etc.

Other places you can take unwanted clothes, blankets, shoes, etc. are obviously the numerous charity shops to be found in most of our High Streets. There are also countless jumble sales and car-boot sales where much of the thrown-away textiles may be effectively "recycled" by being sold to people who would appreciate them.