244. What Can Your Old Clothes Become Next? w/ Nicholas Ledra

You clean out your closet, donate a bag of clothes, and feel pretty good about it. But where do those clothes actually go? Dr. Nicholas Ledra is solving the enormous textile-waste problem hiding in plain sight—and today we celebrate the science that could change it. His work at Nuria Scientific points toward something far more exciting than simply recycling our clothes once: a future where the materials inside them can be recovered, reused, and given life after life, after life, instead of eventually becoming waste. 0:00 — Intro & Welcome 5:32 — The Hidden Reality of Donating Clothes 8:30 — Why Modern Fabrics Are So Difficult to Recycle 12:50 — Break 15:06 — From Grandma’s Sewing Room to Textile Innovator 33:53 — Open-Loop vs. Closed-Loop Recycling 39:44 — Giving Old Clothes Multiple New Lives 44:47 — When Recycling Isn’t Actually Green 48:24 — The Future of Textile Recycling and How to Help