How the mission is turning unusable clothes into roofing material

Mar 07, 2023

The Union Gospel Mission has a new tool to manage donated clothes that are past their usable life – a baler.

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Simplified: The Union Gospel Mission has a new tool to manage donated clothes that are past their usable life – a baler.

You read it right. The mission is going to use the baler to compress old clothes into blocks that'll then be repurposed into shingles like the ones on your roof.

Weber first learned that clothing can be repurposed into roofing materials when he was looking to redo his own roof.

About six months ago, he bought a baler. Weber has also identified a few companies in Tennessee and North Carolina that will pay a certain price-per-pound for clothing to make the shingles.

What's cool about it, too, said Heather Craig, human resources director at the mission, is that the clothes are donated to the mission that houses people who are homeless.

The mission needs help from an electrician to set up the baler, first and foremost, Weber said.

The nonprofit would also benefit from some local people with experience using balers to train the mission staff and volunteers how to work the machine.

And, if you've got extra clothes in your closet, think about the help they could do.

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