Do people really "do a thing" today? What should we be doing? I dropped off a bag of clothes at Value Village this morning. At least that's a little something. Did you notice Value Village's installation at Westlake Center this past Saturday? I had no idea that even damaged clothing should be donated. I always thought it rude and kinda gross. But hey, if they say so!

The first-of-its-kind exhibit will be an artistic representation of four people, filled with real clothing and textiles, visualizing Environmental Protection Agency’s statistic that the average North American throws out 70 pounds of textiles each year, 95 percent of which could have been recycled.

Value Village, one of the largest textile recyclers in the world, is responsible for keeping more than 650 million pounds of goods from reaching landfills annually – equivalent in weight to more than 3,000 Boeing 737 airplanes. Value Village works in tandem with local governments, waste management partners and recycling customers, and since its founding in 1954, has made it a mission to give used goods a second life. Recently, Value Village partnered with King County’s Recycling and Environmental Services on its Threadcycle program to educate King County residents that damaged textiles should be donated, not thrown away.