THUNDER BAY – NEWS – Confederation College is thrilled to announce a unique partnership with Sic Sox Circular Ltd., an innovative textile recycling program founded by Confederation College alumna, Dr. Dorris Mitchell and her son, Jerrett Paquette. This partnership aims to provide communities with an effective way to participate in landfill diversion of clothing and textiles, creating a more sustainable environment for Northern Ontario.
Sic Sox Circular Ltd., headquartered in Brunswick House First Nation, collects textiles in all conditions such as bedding, towels, clothing, gently used shoes, handbags, and stuffed animal toys. Once collected, the textiles are brought back to the headquarters where they are weighed, sorted, and cleaned. Gently used items are then resold online at sicsoxcircular.ca or at their thrift store location, while the landfill-quality material is diverted to a shredder, breaking the textiles down to usable fibres.
The partnership with Confederation College will enable the widespread placement of Sic Sox Boxes in the community, encouraging citizens to donate their used textiles in any condition: “By providing a convenient drop-off location, we aim to foster an environmentally conscious community supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. Not only does the box prevent textiles from going into our landfills, but it also allows for perfectly good items to be resold at affordable prices, effectively promoting a culture of reuse within our region,” stated Robyn Gillespie, Manager of Applied Research and Sustainability at Confederation College.
For the items that cannot be reused, Sic Sox Circular Ltd. aims to take the cellulose fibre and convert it into an industry-approved housing insulation product during its pilot year, taking a significant step towards creating an alternative to landfill textile waste.
Additionally, Sic Sox Circular Ltd. is committed to providing 10% of the profits from thrift sales towards supporting Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and promoting gender equality programs.
Confederation College is proud to be a part of this journey towards a sustainable future and invites everyone to consider the environmental impact of their textile waste. The Sic Sox Bin is located at the edge of the parking lot near the McIntyre Building.
For more information about the partnership and how to participate, visit sicsoxcircular.ca or download the Sic Sox Circular APP.
