UniCycle Jamaica, the student-led back-to-school focused textile recycling initiative, has again launched its annual summer drive to support the collection and redistribution of gently used uniforms and PE gear.

In partnership with its sister initiative, Come Mek Wi Dance, UniCycle is also collecting dancewear to support dance and dance therapy programmes in schools island-wide. 

Last year in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in July, the UniCycle Team led by Rhys and Maria Greenland also staged fundraising events and an online AMAZON wishlist drive that added nearly J$300,000 worth of school supplies to the hundreds of uniforms and sports/dance wear items distributed to families in the hardest hit areas by the National Education Trust. “We are in the middle of planning another such event this summer,” Rhys explained.

Donation containers are now out in Fontanas across the island and at Campion College. “We appreciate Fontana’s ongoing support and the donations we received from stores like Ammars and Joseph’s. We know many schools across the island collect uniforms periodically and distribute,” Maria explained. “We are actually working with the NET on upcycling palettes into containers for Guidance Units to help expand this in an organised, self-sustainable way and encourage the staging of periodic clothing drives during the school year to support families in need.”  

Each year, the UniCycle drive is soft-launched as part of Campion College’s environmental club, Green Generation, staging of its now annual Zero Waste Week. “Zero waste weeks aim to increase awareness of the circular economy and reduce waste consumption,” Rhys, a former Green Generation President, noted. “Activities like Meatless Monday, where we share vegetarian recipes, Tee-Totes Tuesday, where we upcycle old t-shirts into tote bags without sewing, and Fast Fashion Friday, where we launch our UniCycle and Come Mek Wi Dance drives, have become part of the club’s annual calendar. “We look forward to the day when Jamaica has a national Zero Waste Week and more schools, companies, agencies and organisations are involved.”

“And to the day when we see textile recycling containers located in spots across the island, much like the Recycling Partners Jamaica ones now are for single-use plastic bottles,” Maria added. “The fashion industry is a major source of plastic waste, with millions of tons of plastic pollution generated annually. That’s one of the reasons we started Unicycle and Come Mek Wi Dance. So much of our clothing is made from plastic fibres like polyester, nylon, and acrylic. They shed microplastics during washing and wearing, which can end up in our rivers and oceans.  Clothing takes between 3 months (cotton) to hundreds of years (synthetics) to decompose.”