The County of Santa Barbara is proud to announce that we, along with the cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta, are partnering with Homeboy Threads and MarBorg to bring a more sustainable textile recycling program to local residents! Homeboy Threads is a social enterprise of Homeboy Industries, an LA-based nonprofit that is the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world. Homeboy has provided social, legal, educational, and employment services to high-risk youth, former gang members, and the recently incarcerated for over 30 years, turning the tide on gang activity in Los Angeles.

In our partnership, Homeboy Threads will sort, grade, and pre-process used textiles for different markets, including resale, downcycling, and fiber-to-fiber recycling. This process prevents hundreds of tons of waste from being landfilled or shipped off to less-developed countries where they create numerous environmental hazards. Largely due to the rise of fast fashion, the average US consumer throws away approximately 81.5 pounds of clothes annually, leading to roughly 11.3 million tons of textile waste in America alone. These textiles can take up to 200 years to decompose, and emit methane, break down into harmful microplastics, and leach toxic chemicals and dyes into the soil and groundwater.

This program is also getting ahead of SB 707 – California’s new Extended Producer Responsibility law, requiring textile and apparel companies to accept unwanted items with the purpose of recycling them or preparing them for reuse, which is expected to begin implementation in 2028.

The textile recycling program is open to residents for free drop-off at MarBorg’s recycling center at 20 David Love Place in Goleta. This location is open Monday – Friday, from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, and on certain Saturdays from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. See below for guidelines on what can and cannot be accepted:

Acceptable Materials

All items must be clean, dry, and not contaminated. Items should be in lightly worn condition unless otherwise stated.

• Clothing
• Hats, gloves, mittens, scarves
• Shoes, socks (matching pairs only)
• Towels, sheets, pillowcases, blankets, curtains
• Fabric scraps (8.5" x 11" or larger)
• Backpacks, purses
• Luggage (in good, working condition)
• Undergarments, body suits, swimsuits (ONLY if unopened in original packaging)

Unacceptable Materials

• Items that are
  • wet
  • soiled
  • contaminated (with mold or other biohazards)
  • heavily worn
• Undergarments, body suits, swimsuits that are NOT in original (unopened) packaging
• Post-consumer/used rags
• Comforters
• Pillows
• Stuffed animals, toys
• Non-textile materials (paper towels, face masks, books, etc.)
• Non-functional molded plastic luggage (missing or broken wheels, broken handles, broken zipper, etc.)