Editor’s Notice: The next is a part of a category challenge initially began within the classroom of Ball State College professor Adam Kuban within the fall of 2021. Kuban continued the challenge final fall, difficult his college students to search out analysis efforts. sustainability within the Muncie space and current your concepts. to Deanna Watson, editor of The Star Press, Journal & Courier and Pal-Merchandise. A number of of those tales have been filed in November and December 2022.
MUNCIE, Ind. — After COVID-19 compelled the Attic Window Thrift Retailer and Donation Heart to shut all 5 of its areas for 3 months in early 2020, Louanna Ross, director of retail operations for Attic Window, did not know the way worthwhile it was the enterprise. it might be when reopening.
![Women's jackets are on display at the Attic Window's South Muncie location. Ross said if a T-shirt is 50% or more cotton, it's automatically recycled.](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/12/09/PMUN/5007edd0-8e82-40dc-8b5e-ce338067afbd-sustainableclothing_Bowles_pic3.jpeg?width=660&height=495&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
The shop produced report years within the the rest of 2020 and 2021 and had 2,100 automobiles delivering donations at its South Muncie location at 400 W. Memorial Drive in October 2022.
Ross has been concerned with the thrift retailer for over 9 years and oversees its shops in Muncie, Hartford Metropolis, New Citadel and Winchester. Attic Window operates beneath Muncie Mission Ministries and sells clothes, sneakers, furnishings, and different gadgets.
With 40 years of expertise in retail administration, Ross mentioned that lately he has seen an elevated concentrate on sustainability from his prospects, employees and distributors.
“We do not simply promote retail; we’re massive on recycling,” Ross mentioned. “If a T-shirt is 50% cotton or extra, we recycle it and take away the logos. Factories come and purchase them for $eight to $11. We’re nonetheless utilizing the product. [even] if it isn’t price promoting.”
![Louanna Ross, director of retail operations for Attic Window, sorts clothing on display at the Muncie location at 400 W. Memorial Drive. Ross said the store set record profits in 2020 and 2021.](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/12/09/PMUN/ea1643e0-c01c-4cf2-be85-b60b9e110cf7-sustainableclothing_Bowles_pic1.jpeg?width=660&height=495&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Emily Gartner, proprietor of Artwork Threads Studios in Indianapolis, has been a full-time textile artist for the previous 22 years.
Gartner has labored within the New York Metropolis trend trade and served as Assistant Curator of Textiles for the Allentown Museum of Artwork in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Gartner mentioned thrift shops are vital as a result of they permit gadgets that may have ended up in landfills to be offered to prospects who want them.
“I can’t permit my small studio to turn into a dumping floor for discarded gadgets from stitching machines, materials and clothes,” Gartner mentioned. “If I haven’t got a direct use for it, I would slightly they donate it to a thrift retailer that may use it.”
Ross mentioned Attic Window follows an organized recycling routine. Within the warehouse space, Ross mentioned employees members determine button-down shirts that are not price promoting and reduce off the buttons and recycle them. Ross mentioned in addition they recycle aluminum, cardboard, forged iron, copper, steel and paper. This affords Attic Window the chance to recycle, which entails taking components of undesirable merchandise and turning them into new materials.
![Yvonne Williamson operates the cash register at Attic Window's South Muncie location. The store is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/12/09/PMUN/eb4bc382-6712-420e-8a9c-a52c47472a1d-sustainableclothing_Bowles_pic2.jpeg?width=660&height=495&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Over the previous few years, Gartner and Ross mentioned they’ve seen youthful prospects exhibiting extra consideration and urgency towards what’s of their buying cart.
Based on a 2020 examine carried out by researchers at Molloy College (New York), “The Sustainable Closet”, greater than 70% of undergraduate college students at a college situated within the northeast of the US have been conscious of resale trend platforms .
The examine highlighted social media as the largest contributor to reselling enjoyment as a result of Gen Z is fascinated with posting their garments and seeing what their pals are carrying.