CAST-OFF COUTURE

Surprising new life awaits your cast-off clothing.

Instead of storing clothes than rarely see the light of day in your closet or a trunk in your attic, give them to charity.

Who knows, your once trendy bell-bottoms, tie-dyed toga, cashmere sweater or flannelette nightgown may enjoy a bit of reincarnation as a factory floor mop, a pair of wooly winter mittens, ground up to make carpets, paper and car upholstery, or else on it's way to Africa or Asia to find a new life.

The recycled rag business has been steadily increasing over the last decade fueled by higher demand from used clothing dealers and exporters, rag wipers and polishers, and fiber recyclers.

According to the U.S. Council of Clothing Recyclers, charities process about 500 million pounds of recycled clothing annually (enough to fill 12,500 40-foot freight containers).

While charities provide tax receipts for donated clothing, textile recyclers pay millions of dollars to churches and charitable organizations for the left-overs they can't sell (like sweaters in July or bathing suits in December).

Rest assured that whatever sassy seamstresses and clothing collectors can't recycle and re-use, there will always be a humongous hand-me-down market as long as consumers keep buying all manner of cutting-edge clothing.

Are you bored with brand-name baubles?

Then it's time to treat yourself to some trashy trinkets. (Note: These thingamybobs are for chic cheapskates only!)

Yard-sale enthusiasts with attitude usually grasp the fundamentals of having fun with frippery.

So cast your eyes about and pick up all manner of odds and ends to make "Vintage Button Bracelets" (found in your Granny's sewing box), "Naughty Necklaces" (made from pop can tab tops), or "Egads Earings" (fashioned from the Gods of Junk).

Quit whining about somebody raining on your parade.

Get out and start your own parade...replete with gaudy gumboots that will amaze your fear-minded friends and flummox your family (who may think you've lost your marbles).

If you have trouble connecting the dots or painting by numbers, you'll have no trouble with this craft project.

Hit the flea-market, a garage sale, or rustle around in your attic to retrieve a pair of gumboots or galoshes. Then pick-up some acrylic paints at a craft store and decorate them with doodles.

Exercise your creative flair - think big, think colorful, think fun and you're half way there.

If doodles don't do it...then grab a glue gun and stick all sorts of bits and pieces to your rubber boots. Because if you don't want to wear them for fear of criticism from your spouse, neighbor or your kids...at least you can use them as an alternative to buying flower pots this year!

Forget about forking out the mega moolah for maven-ware.

Why not let your inner child out to play with some scissors, thread, needles, and oodles of old clothing that has seen better days.

Today is your "Creative Clothing Day" -- time to whip up your customized clothing. Who says fashion can't be funky and fun? Tap into your genial genes and have a flair affair!

When you've zapped and zipped your zingy little number together, why not hold a "Trashion Show", and donate the proceeds to your favorite charity.

If you need a few hints on how to do it, pick up a book by Virginia Avery entitled, Wonderful Wearables.

Finding new uses for discarded dregs and dross is what makes Contexture Design in Vancouver, one of a kind!

The company names says it all -- they creatively alter the context of the materials they use to evoke new textures.

The owners, Nathan Lee and Trevor Coghill, both studied landscape architecture at the University of British, are definitely into recycling not only on an ecological level but also on a cultural level.

Ardent thrift-shoppers, they also rely on friends who bring in odds and ends that they hate to see thrown out such as high-end cabinetry veneer with a gorgeous grain.

"Cuff Love" was born from just such a serendipitous second-hand inspiriation. Handmade jewellry reclaimed from exotic wood veneers such as the popular "Bentwood Cuff Cuffs" retail now for $68. These bling bracelets also serve as disposable java jackets used to protect caffeine swiggers' fingers from hot cups.

These artful alchemists know how to turn old skates into a pair of posh boots, laces and all, while well-worn bowling shoes become wicked wallets, and scrap wood is reworked into fashion rings, belt buckles, money clips and that ultimate identity piece, dog tags.

As if that wasn't enough, they've also managed to figure out how to combine groovy entertainment formats that evoke memories of the past with the latest, hippest music technology ...by refashioning old vinyl records and cassette tapes into iPod Nano protectors.

Life Lesson #11: Never discard dross...because behind it there's definitely design gold!

For those who can't sew worth a darn or who are bored out of their environmentally-friendly tree, here's some tantalizing trivia about tossed out textiles.

Did you know that the average Canuck, (those weird winterland wunderkins who live north of the 49th parallel), accounts for 7 kilograms per person of textile waste (from bedding to clothes and curtains) which ends up in landfills every year?

As if that's not enough, did you know that 85 per cent of recyclable clothing is thrown away annually, when more than 80 per cent still have 75 per cent of their wearability left?

Think of it, if every conservation-minded, clothing-conscious consumer in this country full of environmentally-friendly beavers, blackflies and big brown bears bought just one reclaimed woolen garment each year -- it would save an average of 300 gallons of water not to mention and 400 tonnes of chemical dyes.

Lest one feel a tad overwhelmed by these not-so-friendly numbers, rest assured those Crazy Canucks who spend a good deal of time whacking hockey pucks around most of the year, do do their part to save the planet by recycling their remnants. Each year more than 75,000 tonnes of textile waste is recycled into raw materials for the automotive, furniture, mattress, course yarn, home furnishings, paper and an assortment of other industries...including the creative artistic and fashion community.

So forget about buying new togs for holidays or birthdays. Recycle those old togas and tie-dyed t-shirts. Give them a new life as a restyled garment for a positive-planet-thinker!