Franklin County residents regularly ask us what can be done with unwanted clothing generated from a house move or cleaning out someone else’s house. We have the answer for that: Put it in the Salvation Army or Goodwill or Red Cross collection box at your local transfer station.

Many people are happily surprised to learn the full range of textiles that can be recycled via these collection boxes.

Did you know that along with your old coat or T-shirts you can recycle shoes, belts, gloves, bedding, towels, pillows, stuffed animals, and fabric scraps? That’s only a partial list of what is accepted by “textile” collection organizations. (The full list is at www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dep/recycle/reduce/tri-acceptable.pdf.) Your items don’t have to be clean or in perfect condition, either. They can be torn or faded (but not moldy or wet or oily). They can be stained, missing buttons or have broken zippers.

The collection organizations and the recycling industry have been able to expand to include so many more items because the fiber content itself has economic value. Nearly all of it can be resold or recycled. The highest quality items are designated for resale in thrift stores in this region. Some materials are shipped to other countries, a practice that is closely watched by environmental and advocacy groups. What can’t be reused or redistributed gets recycled into insulation for cars, carpet backing, and wiping cloths (rags).

Massachusetts residents throw away 230,000 tons of textiles each year, and according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), approximately 95 percent of that could be reused or converted to other items. The DEP is making an effort to educate residents about the wide range of textiles that can be recycled, in order to divert these materials from incinerators and landfills.

So where can you bring your textiles for reuse and recycling? The following town transfer stations host textile collection boxes: Bernardston, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway (a textile reuse shed), Deerfield, Greenfield, Heath, Leverett, New Salem, Northfield, Orange, Shelburne, Warwick, and Whately.

In general, the transfer stations serve only residents of the towns in which they are located, but the Greenfield Transfer Station accepts textiles from any Franklin County resident at no cost. You can also bring your textiles to the Solid Waste District’s May and October bulky waste collection days in Buckland, Northfield and Whately.

Whenever the time comes for you to sort through unwanted textiles we hope you will bag them up and bring them to a textiles drop box. It’s easy, free, and keeps valuable materials from being burned or buried.

Turn up textile recycling Franklin County!

Jan Ameen is executive director of the Franklin County Solid Waste District.