H&M is known to most of us as a purveyor of cute, cheap clothes.  But it is also the world’s largest buyer of organic cotton.  Later this month, it will launch another eco-friendly Conscious Collection, and just last week, the second largest fashion retailer in the world launched the first ever global garment recycling program.

Now, shoppers/closet-cleansers can bring old clothes to any of H&M’s 269 U.S. locations or any store in its 48 markets worldwide.  Any clothes, not just H&M brand.

In exchange, they’ll receive a voucher for 15% off the purchase of one item.  This part of the initiative has been criticized as encouraging further consumption but really, what do you expect from a fashion retailer?  As one journalist put it, not every brand is Patagonia.  I would hope that people will be replacing a bundle of old clothes with one new item, which is a step in the right direction.  The coupon also might be a necessary incentive to get people to participate in the first place.  I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to wait and see how it goes.

But I digress.  From the stores, the garments will be collected by H&M’s partner organization, I:Co, which will do the actual recycling.  Clothing will be either re-sold on the second-hand market, re-purposed into cleaning cloths and such, or  Continue reading →