Trash School is an initiative for learning about what we discard, celebrating its value and developing practices to keep it local.

At the beginning of 2026, we gathered some friends to examine this question: what if we had a community-scale solution for recycling discarded and unwanted textile waste?

We began enacting this system, collecting data and meeting lots of people undertaking important waste reduction measures across disciplines. Starting with methods of donating and recycling textiles, we learned practices that are currently in place. Through conversations with partners, we learned where potential collaboration is needed for current gaps in the system. How can we address these gaps on a hyper local level?

As our research went on, it remains clear that this is a complicated issue. These were not small questions: Can solutions promote degrowth? Is transparency possible? What is the definition of waste anyways? Is there a way for this to be…fun? (Spoiler, it’s fun.)

So Trash School was born from the desire to invite you, the community, into an initiative for learning about what we discard, celebrating its value and developing practices to keep it local. Our hope is that by better understanding textile waste, we better explore the role we play in reducing it. The resulting ecosystem could create collaborations, innovative materials, connection and a model for local resilience that can be replicated elsewhere. We’re excited to share what we’ve been learning and unlearning!

Check out the calendar for upcoming Trash School programs Take a survey to tell us how you want to get involved. If you are a Longfellow resident, give us an idea about the textile waste you collect at this time.

Trash School is an initiative for learning about what we discard, celebrating its value and developing practices to keep it local.

Partners