60,000 pounds
Average amount of excess fabric, trims, buttons, zippers, thread, and the like produced at a midsize garment factory each week.
$18,000
What a rag sorter got for a pair of collectible Levi's at an auction in Paris.
11.9 million tons
The weight of textiles put into municipal solid-waste streams in 2007. Of that, just 16% was diverted to textile recycling facilities.
6.3%
The portion of municipal solid waste derived from textiles in 2008, up from 2% in 1960.
99%
Amount of upstream waste — natural resources and all materials used in production, transport, and packaging — six months after the sale of a given product in North America.
Zero waste
Looptworks's goal.
Sources: Looptworks; Sustainable Fashion: Why Now, by Janet Hethorn; Natural Capitalism, by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins; Environmental Protection Agency
A version of this article appeared in the July/August 2010 issue of Fast Company magazine.
