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CASE FOR SUPPORT

Environmental sustainability is a challenge that plagues populations worldwide. While there are many contributing factors to this complex issue, human consumption habits play a major role.About 20% of global emissions come from human waste. Textiles are a unique part of this waste burden: in 2018, 11.3 million tons of clothing/textiles were landlled, constituting 7.7% of all municipal solid waste landlled. The textile category of waste is a worsening problem, too: the amount of textiles landlled per capita increased 55% from 2000 to 2018, versus a 20% per capita increase in overall waste, according to EPA data.Textiles constitute 4% of all waste in southwest and central parts of Ohio, according to data from Hamilton and Franklin counties. The threat of textile waste takes a unique toll in Oxford - home to Miami University - compared to the rest of the region. This is a community that is somewhat transient in nature, with the coming and going of students each academic year. Each spring, expect to see furniture, clothing, appliances, and other “excess” items discarded on the sidewalks as students prepare to move back home. More often than not, these items are not properly recycled through any existing resource, and are unnecessarily burdening Butler County landlls and going to waste.There is plenty of room for change, for residents to re-use, repurpose or recycle to tackle environmental challenges of excess textile waste. Leaders in the community agree in the belief to build a greener community. In fact the vision for Oxford Tomorrow published in 2023 includes a goal for environmental sustainability and scal responsibility. Thread Up Oxford offers a pathway to do just that while also helping community members meet basic needs. This change comes with an added benet: diverting these items from the landll means they can be reused or repurposed to creatively meet the needs of people struggling to make ends meet. Across Butler County, OH, the total combined poverty and ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) reaches 37% of households struggling. This aligns with local data that 35% of students in the Talawanda School District receive free or reduced lunch, illustrating that 1 in 3 families can barely afford basic needs.In general, individuals living in poverty will suffer more negative consequences at the hands of climate change compared to others. Our program can positively impact both poverty and environmental issues hand-in-hand.WHERE CARING AND CLIMATE MEET

Environmental sustainability is a challenge that plagues populations worldwide. While there are many contributing factors to this complex issue, human consumption habits play a major role.About 20% of global emissions come from human waste. Textiles are a unique part of this waste burden: in 2018, 11.3 million tons of clothing/textiles were landlled, constituting 7.7% of all municipal solid waste landlled. The textile category of waste is a worsening problem, too: the amount of textiles landlled per capita increased 55% from 2000 to 2018, versus a 20% per capita increase in overall waste, according to EPA data.Textiles constitute 4% of all waste in southwest and central parts of Ohio, according to data from Hamilton and Franklin counties. The threat of textile waste takes a unique toll in Oxford - home to Miami University - compared to the rest of the region. This is a community that is somewhat transient in nature, with the coming and going of students each academic year. Each spring, expect to see furniture, clothing, appliances, and other “excess” items discarded on the sidewalks as students prepare to move back home. More often than not, these items are not properly recycled through any existing resource, and are unnecessarily burdening Butler County landlls and going to waste.There is plenty of room for change, for residents to re-use, repurpose or recycle to tackle environmental challenges of excess textile waste. Leaders in the community agree in the belief to build a greener community. In fact the vision for Oxford Tomorrow published in 2023 includes a goal for environmental sustainability and scal responsibility. Thread Up Oxford offers a pathway to do just that while also helping community members meet basic needs. This change comes with an added benet: diverting these items from the landll means they can be reused or repurposed to creatively meet the needs of people struggling to make ends meet. Across Butler County, OH, the total combined poverty and ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) reaches 37% of households struggling. This aligns with local data that 35% of students in the Talawanda School District receive free or reduced lunch, illustrating that 1 in 3 families can barely afford basic needs.In general, individuals living in poverty will suffer more negative consequences at the hands of climate change compared to others. Our program can positively impact both poverty and environmental issues hand-in-hand.WHERE CARING AND CLIMATE MEET

Thread Up Oxford is a nonprot devoted to eliminating textile waste from the landll by educating consumers about the impact of our “fast fashion” culture and enabling textile reuse/recycling in the Oxford, Ohio, area. Our organization serves a unique purpose as a thrift shop, recycling center and hub for improving sustainability via textile waste reduction while also serving individuals with basic needs.Protecting the environment is mission central. Clothing waste that ends up in the landll can take up to 200 years to decompose, often leaking dangerous chemicals from dyes into soil and water during the process. Fast fashion is a serious problem in our society, and the short-lived use of textiles is extremely wasteful and one of the most pressing environmental issues happening today.Thread Up Oxford’s program extends the lifespan of clothing and other textiles, keeping items in this community to serve many local needs without damaging the environment. “I think people understand our mission is a small scale solution to a worldwide problem,” said Founder Shana Rosenberg. “Keeping it in the community is part of the mission, really.”SCALING A GLOBAL ISSUE TO LOCAL IMPACTA path to ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY and scal responsibility while also HELPING COMMUNITY MEMBERS MEET BASIC NEEDS.

Thread Up Oxford is a nonprot devoted to eliminating textile waste from the landll by educating consumers about the impact of our “fast fashion” culture and enabling textile reuse/recycling in the Oxford, Ohio, area. Our organization serves a unique purpose as a thrift shop, recycling center and hub for improving sustainability via textile waste reduction while also serving individuals with basic needs.Protecting the environment is mission central. Clothing waste that ends up in the landll can take up to 200 years to decompose, often leaking dangerous chemicals from dyes into soil and water during the process. Fast fashion is a serious problem in our society, and the short-lived use of textiles is extremely wasteful and one of the most pressing environmental issues happening today.Thread Up Oxford’s program extends the lifespan of clothing and other textiles, keeping items in this community to serve many local needs without damaging the environment. “I think people understand our mission is a small scale solution to a worldwide problem,” said Founder Shana Rosenberg. “Keeping it in the community is part of the mission, really.”SCALING A GLOBAL ISSUE TO LOCAL IMPACTA path to ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY and scal responsibility while also HELPING COMMUNITY MEMBERS MEET BASIC NEEDS.

At a GlanceThread Up Oxford is a nonprot organization devoted to changing how the local and regional community uses textiles. We BelieveAs a community, we need to remove ourselves from the “fast fashion” cycle of buying massive amounts of clothing that are obsolete or damaged within months of purchase. Our VisionThe goal is to eliminate most of the textile waste that our current consumer culture sends to a landll. ABOUT THREAD UP OXFORD

At a GlanceThread Up Oxford is a nonprot organization devoted to changing how the local and regional community uses textiles. We BelieveAs a community, we need to remove ourselves from the “fast fashion” cycle of buying massive amounts of clothing that are obsolete or damaged within months of purchase. Our VisionThe goal is to eliminate most of the textile waste that our current consumer culture sends to a landll. ABOUT THREAD UP OXFORD

Started in 2021, Thread Up Oxford was born out of necessity. Founder Shana Rosenberg saw the massive textile waste that the City of Oxford was producing, between locals and the university within town limits, and decided to do something about it.Shana’s childhood included the opportunity to experience a large number of textile arts and crafts rsthand, including costuming for Broadway and dance. “I love fabric and yarn,” Shana said, “I always had that love of textiles and arts and crafts. When it came to a mission, this was one I could get behind that would include earth sustainability.”During the pandemic, Shana hosted her rst textile drive (April 2021) and found great community support. She started storing discarded textiles in her home, volunteers’ homes, and 4 storage units. And when people were in need of something, Shana would nd it. Founder Shana was recognized as one of the recipients of Oxford’s Citizens of the Year award for 2022. This speaks volumes about the values of the Oxford community and the support of Thread Up Oxford’s mission of keeping textiles out of landlls.Over the past 2.5 years, Thread Up Oxford has quickly proven itself to be a highly useful and effective facet to the community. The organization has processed thousands of pounds of textile waste and continues to receive hundreds more in textile donations each week. Thread Up Oxford maintains a retail store for reselling pre owned goods, and plans to purchase a textile shredder to properly recycle any textile material that is too used to re-use or sell. In truth, all of this is just the beginning of the journey. ABOUT THE BEGINNING

Started in 2021, Thread Up Oxford was born out of necessity. Founder Shana Rosenberg saw the massive textile waste that the City of Oxford was producing, between locals and the university within town limits, and decided to do something about it.Shana’s childhood included the opportunity to experience a large number of textile arts and crafts rsthand, including costuming for Broadway and dance. “I love fabric and yarn,” Shana said, “I always had that love of textiles and arts and crafts. When it came to a mission, this was one I could get behind that would include earth sustainability.”During the pandemic, Shana hosted her rst textile drive (April 2021) and found great community support. She started storing discarded textiles in her home, volunteers’ homes, and 4 storage units. And when people were in need of something, Shana would nd it. Founder Shana was recognized as one of the recipients of Oxford’s Citizens of the Year award for 2022. This speaks volumes about the values of the Oxford community and the support of Thread Up Oxford’s mission of keeping textiles out of landlls.Over the past 2.5 years, Thread Up Oxford has quickly proven itself to be a highly useful and effective facet to the community. The organization has processed thousands of pounds of textile waste and continues to receive hundreds more in textile donations each week. Thread Up Oxford maintains a retail store for reselling pre owned goods, and plans to purchase a textile shredder to properly recycle any textile material that is too used to re-use or sell. In truth, all of this is just the beginning of the journey. ABOUT THE BEGINNING

HOW IT WORKSHeadquartered in Oxford, OH, (Butler County) Thread Up Oxford is a nonprot that serves about a 20-mile radius from our doorstep, including parts of Union County, Preble County; and in Wayne County, Indiana.Thread Up Oxford operates on a donation basis. Donors drop off textile items to our brick and mortar location. All textiles are stored in a warehouse where staff or volunteers process and sort donations into categories:• Reuse for sale in the thrift store or donation to someone in need;• Reuse for art supplies;• and items that will need to be recycled.We operate retail storefronts to sell textiles in good condition, or to give as a donation to community members in need. Further, Thread Up Oxford partners with other social organizations to connect with individuals in need and distribute items through these outlets. The retail space also features a Creative Reuse Center, essentially a “makerspace” area that is free to be used by customers who wish to use specic craft tools, such as sewing machines, that they might not otherwise be able to access. The Creative Reuse Center also provides a forum to build community and spread awareness throuh programs such as craft time with kids, contributing towards a project together, etc.Soon enough, Thread Up Oxford will operate a fabric shredder to down-cycle materials that cannot be repurposed or donated, and reduce the environmental burden created by our community.Read on to understand more details about each program area.REDUCEAwarenessAwareness about the issue of textile waste is key to creating change and reducing the impact of this program. Thread Up Oxford seeks out educational speaking engagements and other forums on sustainable wardrobes to share our expertise and grow awareness about how our organization can help individuals, businesses, and other organizations reduce textile waste in the community.Thread Up Oxford Shana Rosenberg, presenting to the Kiwanis Club of Oxford, Ohio

HOW IT WORKSHeadquartered in Oxford, OH, (Butler County) Thread Up Oxford is a nonprot that serves about a 20-mile radius from our doorstep, including parts of Union County, Preble County; and in Wayne County, Indiana.Thread Up Oxford operates on a donation basis. Donors drop off textile items to our brick and mortar location. All textiles are stored in a warehouse where staff or volunteers process and sort donations into categories:• Reuse for sale in the thrift store or donation to someone in need;• Reuse for art supplies;• and items that will need to be recycled.We operate retail storefronts to sell textiles in good condition, or to give as a donation to community members in need. Further, Thread Up Oxford partners with other social organizations to connect with individuals in need and distribute items through these outlets. The retail space also features a Creative Reuse Center, essentially a “makerspace” area that is free to be used by customers who wish to use specic craft tools, such as sewing machines, that they might not otherwise be able to access. The Creative Reuse Center also provides a forum to build community and spread awareness throuh programs such as craft time with kids, contributing towards a project together, etc.Soon enough, Thread Up Oxford will operate a fabric shredder to down-cycle materials that cannot be repurposed or donated, and reduce the environmental burden created by our community.Read on to understand more details about each program area.REDUCEAwarenessAwareness about the issue of textile waste is key to creating change and reducing the impact of this program. Thread Up Oxford seeks out educational speaking engagements and other forums on sustainable wardrobes to share our expertise and grow awareness about how our organization can help individuals, businesses, and other organizations reduce textile waste in the community.Thread Up Oxford Shana Rosenberg, presenting to the Kiwanis Club of Oxford, Ohio

REUSERetail StoreOur retail store is open to the public for visitors to shop for pre-owned clothing and other textile items selected from our donations for resale. These are high quality items in good condition. Sales from these items supports our ongoing operations and broader mission.Karma BucksThese are vouchers provided to local social service agencies and organizations in our area to give to individuals dealing with nancial hardships. These can be used to shop in our retail store for whatever items that individual needs. Some of our partners have included: Family Resource Center, Talawanda/Oxford Pantry and Social Services (TOPSS), Talawanda School District, the Coalition for a Healthy Community, Kiwanis, Army of Kindness Miami community food pantry, Oxford Cares Backpack Program, Be Kind Harrison, and much more.If you are an organization or church that would like to distribute Karma Bucks to those in hardship, please contact us at threadupoxford@gmail.com. Creative Reuse + Artist PartnershipsWe have a cozy creating corner open during store hours and available for individuals to stop by and breathe a new life into textiles. We partner with local artists and crafters to host workshops for all ages to learn to make unique projects, such as bracelets, dog toys, pot holders and more. These workshops offer really benecial skills and resources for our community to gain knowledge about further reusing their own textiles.Our Retail StoreCreative ReuseShop clothing using Karma Bucks!

REUSERetail StoreOur retail store is open to the public for visitors to shop for pre-owned clothing and other textile items selected from our donations for resale. These are high quality items in good condition. Sales from these items supports our ongoing operations and broader mission.Karma BucksThese are vouchers provided to local social service agencies and organizations in our area to give to individuals dealing with nancial hardships. These can be used to shop in our retail store for whatever items that individual needs. Some of our partners have included: Family Resource Center, Talawanda/Oxford Pantry and Social Services (TOPSS), Talawanda School District, the Coalition for a Healthy Community, Kiwanis, Army of Kindness Miami community food pantry, Oxford Cares Backpack Program, Be Kind Harrison, and much more.If you are an organization or church that would like to distribute Karma Bucks to those in hardship, please contact us at threadupoxford@gmail.com. Creative Reuse + Artist PartnershipsWe have a cozy creating corner open during store hours and available for individuals to stop by and breathe a new life into textiles. We partner with local artists and crafters to host workshops for all ages to learn to make unique projects, such as bracelets, dog toys, pot holders and more. These workshops offer really benecial skills and resources for our community to gain knowledge about further reusing their own textiles.Our Retail StoreCreative ReuseShop clothing using Karma Bucks!

tIn Butler County, there are no city or county sponsored options for recycling textiles - such as exists for appliances, electronics, hazardous wastes, paper shredding events and so forth. Butler County Recycling & Solid Waste relies on local partners in the industry to assist residents, businesses and schools with managing materials they generate. Thread Up Oxford is working to become the go-to resource for recycling textiles. We plan to obtain a textile shredder in order to recycle any textiles that cannot be used in our retail store or repurposed in some other way. We have also partnered with other organizations for specic recycling needs, when relevant. For example, we send our unusable denim to the Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub and they turn unwearable denim into thermal packaging, pet bed inserts and recycled insulation.The ImpactWe measure our textiles in pounds collected. We then reduce collection totals to the amount that would ll a trash bag - generally about 20 pounds per bag - and value each bag at $30 each. The following impact data uses this equation to illustrate this impact throughout.Initial drive - March and April 20211,621 pounds redistributed = 81 bags full x 30 = $2,430 value to people in need During our initial drive in March and April 2021, we collected 2,700 pounds of textiles. From this March/April 2021 drive, we distributed 1,621 pounds to recycling and community needs. Partnership with Talawanda Oxford Pantry & Social Services (TOPPS)672 pounds = 33.6 trash bags x 30 = $1,008 valueWe partnered with Talawanda Oxford Pantry & Social Services (TOPPS) to provide textiles to individuals in need. Founder Shana collected items door-to-door for this distribution. We collected 672 pounds of textiles, which was redistributed to 137 people. Socks to People in NeedJanuary through July of 2023, 939 pairs of socks have been reused in the community. Socks coming in various packaging and price points, depending on style, size and qual-ity. If we use an average rate of a 3 pack of socks for $7, we can value a single pair of socks at $2.33 each. This means, year to date, we’ve distributed $2,187.87 in socks to community members. We also utilize Terracycle for recycling socks that are not in good condition, and so far in the last 2 months we have recycled 59 pounds of material.RECYCLE55%increase in the amount of amount of textiles landlled per capita from 2000-2018In 2018,11.3 Mtons of clothing/textiles were landlledONLY 15% of discarded clothing in the U.S. is recycled or reusedOther InitiativesSome further examples of our community impact include (from 2022): • Creative Reuse Grants for textile supplies to artists, educators and community projects, valued at $467• 14 Social service organization partners that distributed Karma Bucks or textile donations to their clients• 158 individuals served from August through December with Karma Bucks or textile donations.• Kiwanis Club of Oxford, 2023 Ohio Back to School Bash served 65 people and dis-tributed 84 pairs of socks, 120 pairs of underwear, and a total of 597 items of cloth-ing at a value of $1194.

tIn Butler County, there are no city or county sponsored options for recycling textiles - such as exists for appliances, electronics, hazardous wastes, paper shredding events and so forth. Butler County Recycling & Solid Waste relies on local partners in the industry to assist residents, businesses and schools with managing materials they generate. Thread Up Oxford is working to become the go-to resource for recycling textiles. We plan to obtain a textile shredder in order to recycle any textiles that cannot be used in our retail store or repurposed in some other way. We have also partnered with other organizations for specic recycling needs, when relevant. For example, we send our unusable denim to the Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub and they turn unwearable denim into thermal packaging, pet bed inserts and recycled insulation.The ImpactWe measure our textiles in pounds collected. We then reduce collection totals to the amount that would ll a trash bag - generally about 20 pounds per bag - and value each bag at $30 each. The following impact data uses this equation to illustrate this impact throughout.Initial drive - March and April 20211,621 pounds redistributed = 81 bags full x 30 = $2,430 value to people in need During our initial drive in March and April 2021, we collected 2,700 pounds of textiles. From this March/April 2021 drive, we distributed 1,621 pounds to recycling and community needs. Partnership with Talawanda Oxford Pantry & Social Services (TOPPS)672 pounds = 33.6 trash bags x 30 = $1,008 valueWe partnered with Talawanda Oxford Pantry & Social Services (TOPPS) to provide textiles to individuals in need. Founder Shana collected items door-to-door for this distribution. We collected 672 pounds of textiles, which was redistributed to 137 people. Socks to People in NeedJanuary through July of 2023, 939 pairs of socks have been reused in the community. Socks coming in various packaging and price points, depending on style, size and qual-ity. If we use an average rate of a 3 pack of socks for $7, we can value a single pair of socks at $2.33 each. This means, year to date, we’ve distributed $2,187.87 in socks to community members. We also utilize Terracycle for recycling socks that are not in good condition, and so far in the last 2 months we have recycled 59 pounds of material.RECYCLE55%increase in the amount of amount of textiles landlled per capita from 2000-2018In 2018,11.3 Mtons of clothing/textiles were landlledONLY 15% of discarded clothing in the U.S. is recycled or reusedOther InitiativesSome further examples of our community impact include (from 2022): • Creative Reuse Grants for textile supplies to artists, educators and community projects, valued at $467• 14 Social service organization partners that distributed Karma Bucks or textile donations to their clients• 158 individuals served from August through December with Karma Bucks or textile donations.• Kiwanis Club of Oxford, 2023 Ohio Back to School Bash served 65 people and dis-tributed 84 pairs of socks, 120 pairs of underwear, and a total of 597 items of cloth-ing at a value of $1194.

The following provides more details about our collection and distribution data. One trash bag is about 20 pounds of textile, and we estimate each bag valued at $30. 2021Total collected in 2021 is 9,747 pounds = 487 trash bags = $14,610 value.2022Total collected in 2022 is 26,547 pounds of textiles =1,327 trash bags = $39,810 value.2023Total collected through July 2023: 23,919 pounds of textiles = 1,195 Trash bags = $35,878 value). This was made possible by investing in our location, which both grew our capacity to accept donations as well as grew awareness of our mission in the community.OUR IMPACTGET INVOLVEDGive a Gift of time or money to support our operations. • Individuals interested in volunteering can submit our interest form.• venmo @ threadupoxfordSubscribe to our newsletter for impact stories, organizational updates and other fun news! FOLLOW OUR STORY: Follow us on Social Media Instagram @threadupoxfordTikTok @threadupoxfordJoin our Facebook group for insider updates and sneak peek at our inventory and other projects.Undergrads from Miami University’s chapter of The Ohio Innocence Project volunteered for two hours to sort and clean up 500 lbs of materials in our sorting area.