Support Liv Karp's Uniform Recycling Project

Hi, my name is Liv Karp and I am currently a Junior at the Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles, CA.

Next year, our school is introducing a brand-new uniform. This got me thinking: What is going to happen to our old uniforms?

I wanted to find a way to give the old uniforms a "second life" in a sustainable and meaningful way. I began to brainstorm and came up with the idea to recycle the fabric of our old uniforms. That's when I discovered SUAY, a Los Angeles based organization dedicated to maintaining a culture of reusing and upcycling. SUAY transforms used clothing into clothing and home goods, and they also run community dye baths where people can repurpose their clothes as well.

My goal is to collect as many old Archer uniforms as possible and partner with SUAY to responsibly recycle the fabric. This process comes with a cost. SUAY has diverted over 3.5 million pounds of textiles from landfills and does so by paying fair wages to the people making this happen. I’m also planning to personally de-brand each item that has the Archer logo on it to avoid extra costs during the recycling process.

I’m doing this as part of my service project (with no funding from my school), and I’m hoping to raise enough money through GoFundMe to make this project happen.

This is a chance for our school community to reduce waste and do something positive for the environment-- and I would be so grateful for your support!

And in case you did not know, here are some eye-opening facts about textile use and waste:

-Out of 100 billion tons of garments that are produced each year in the world, 92 million tons of these garments end up in the landfill every year.

-The average US consumer throws away approximately 81.5 pounds of clothes annually, leading to an estimated 11.3 million tons of textile waste in America alone.

-Growing enough cotton for a single t-shirt requires 2,700 liters of water.