Bed-linen waste is not likely something that you often think about. But according to a new survey conducted by organic bedding company Coyuchi, it accounts for 10-million tons of the textile waste that ends up in U.S. landfills each year. We know what you’re thinking: How could there possibly be so much? According to the responses received from the over-1,000 Americans contacted, 72 percent of bed linens ultimately end up in landfills. Furthermore, over half of the people surveyed said that they buy new sheets at least once year. And while fraying, pilling, tearing, staining, and fading may all be legitimate reasons as to why people would want to ditch their sheets, there has to be more sustainable ways to fix those extremely common issues–and dispose of bedding. Below, Eileen Mockus, CEO of Coyuchi, speaks to us more about the survey, what she learned, and what exactly were the most surprising results.
Why did you decide to conduct this survey?
The frequency with which people wash their sheets not only contributes to our health, but also plays a major role in our carbon footprint. That’s why it was important for us to take a pulse of where America currently stands. Our goal was to open the conversation about how consumers can properly care for their bedding while also improve their impact on the environment.
So how was it conducted?
Our data scientists asked 1,000 American consumers about their linen-cleaning habits via their mobile phones. The survey was conducted in March 2017.
What was most surprising about the data you collected about bed-linen waste?
We wanted to see what people did with their old sheets (38 percent of Americans replace their sheets once a year). We found that 20 percent of Americans throw away their old sheets, which end up in landfills and is bad for the environment, while 52 percent repurpose them as rags. But that still seems like a lot of rags, so we wanted to see how we can put those to better use and extend the lives of their sheets and towels!
In addition, we saw that both the majority of women (74 percent) and men (65 percent) wash their towels every week (no one likes smelly towels). When it comes to washing their bedding, 41 percent of women wash their sheets once a week, while 33 percent of men do the same. Forty-five percent of men wash their sheets once or twice per month (the remaining 22 percent wash their sheets once every four months or less), along with 44 percent of women who also wash their sheets once or twice per month (with the remaining 14 percent washing their sheets once every four months or less).
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Many Americans trash their old bedding and towels without second thought to what happens once they end up in the landfill. To encourage sustainable consumer behaviour, we recently launched a sustainable linen subscription service called Coyuchi for Life. Hailed as the Netflix of Bedding, it ships new sheets, duvets, and towels to your door every six to 24 months—and allows subscribers to send back their old ones for renewal, recycling, or upcycling. Nothing ends up in a landfill. The products are not sent back to the same owner; they will be sold back as renewed by Coyuchi (or other partners like The Renewal Workshop) to interested parties like Airbnb hosts, who are more open to renewed linens. If these cannot be renewed, they are then upcycled into something else or recycled back into yarn to be reused for other purposes.
This article originally appeared on Vogue.com