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Unilever, Savers Team Up to Tackle Clothing Waste

Coinciding with New York Fashion Week, Unilever and global thrift retailer Savers announced a new partnership to draw attention to the issue of clothing waste. As they say, timing is everything. The two organizations collaborated for the latest iteration of Savers’ I Give a Sh!rt campaign, an awareness movement that aims to shed light on the 10.5 million tons of clothing that are discarded every year.

By Sustainable Brands | Published 6 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Coinciding with New York Fashion Week, Unilever and global thrift retailer Savers announced a new partnership to draw attention to the issue of clothing waste. As they say, timing is everything.

The two organizations collaborated for the latest iteration of Savers’ I Give a Sh!rt campaign, an awareness movement that aims to shed light on the 10.5 million tons of clothing that are discarded every year.

The campaign encourages people to recycle their clothing instead of throwing it out. Stains are one of the most frequently cited reasons for clothing being binned. In fact, 300 million pieces of clothing are thrown out by millennials over a lifetime due to white marks or yellow stains.

It also promotes preventative measures consumers can take to extend the life of their clothing, including the use of Unilever’s Anti-Marks Antiperspirants, which helps prevents white marks on dark clothes and the formation of yellow stains on white clothes. The technology is featured across five of the company’s brands — Degree Men®, Degree Women®, Dove®, Dove Men+Care® and AXE®.

“Unilever’s Anti-Marks Technology helps people protect their clothes by preventing white marks and yellow stains — a contributing factor to why so much clothing is thrown out,” said Dawn Hedgepeth, Senior Director of US Deodorants and Men’s Grooming at Unilever. “Unilever’s deodorant portfolio is excited to be partnering with Savers, a company that is dedicated to keeping clothing in the reuse cycle — which helps both people and the planet.”

Also on-site were collection area where clothing could be dropped off for Unilever to recycle.

“Considering the impact of textile waste on the environment, taking steps to extend the life of our clothing can make a huge difference,” said Tony Shumpert, VP of Recycling & Reuse at Savers. “Our partnership with Unilever’s deodorant portfolio for this edition of the I Give a Sh!rt campaign allows us to continue to raise awareness around the importance of developing solutions that keep clothing in the reuse cycle — and out of the garbage bin.”