Over time, your hiking gear wears out and you may feel ready to part with it. Before throwing it away, you should know that several solutions are available to give it a second life while avoiding pollution and encouraging overconsumption. Find out below what to do with your worn hiking gear.
Repairing and reusing worn hiking gear
Repairing your gear yourself
Before considering parting with your worn hiking gear, you can first try to repair it yourself. It is, for example, fairly straightforward to resew, patch or even transform a fabric or garment. Repairing your own gear instead of discarding it extends its lifespan, reduces unnecessary consumption, and has a significant positive environmental impact.
Sending your gear to a repair workshop
Several outdoor brands offer repair services for worn hiking gear. Cimalp is one of them — for example, repairs are carried out by seamstress Chantal, rather than simply replacing items. The French company thus gives hiking garments a new lease of life while fighting waste. You can also get in touch with outdoor gear shops in your area. Some have dedicated workshops for worn hiking gear.
Giving your gear a second life
Reselling your hiking gear
If you wish to part with your worn hiking gear, one option is to resell it — provided it is not safety-critical equipment. Many websites such as Le Bon Coin allow you to sell your gear to private buyers. Some outdoor brands also offer buy-back schemes. This is the case with Le Vieux Campeur, which has a consignment service, as well as other retailers — sometimes local — that have second-hand resale platforms.
Donating to a charitable organisation
If you would like to do something good, donating your worn hiking gear to a charitable organisation such as Emmaüs or the Red Cross is another great idea. The organisation will sort through your items and send them on to people or countries in need. A donation that is both generous and good for the environment.
Recycling your worn hiking gear
Dropping off your clothing at a collection bin
In France, textile collection bins can be found across the country. You can drop off your hiking clothing there; it will then be sent to a sorting centre. Once sorted, certain items will be recycled and repurposed, depending on their condition. A great way to get rid of your clothing while making sure it does not end up buried in landfill or incinerated.
Having your hiking gear recycled
Finally, some companies specialise in recycling outdoor products. On the manufacturer side, Patagonia is one of the few to offer its own recycling programme. Gear is recycled into new fibre or repurposed when recycling is not possible. On the French side, some hiking product brands have committed to recycling their products, collecting them for transformation.
The last recycling option available to you is donation, so your gear can enjoy a second life. Platforms such as Donnons.org or Geev — a peer-to-peer donation platform — exist for this purpose. And in a more unusual vein, the Recyclerie Sportive offers, among other things, support for setting up a local recycling project near you.
Before parting with your worn hiking gear, it is important to think carefully about what you will do with it. Today, many solutions exist to give your equipment a second life while staying committed to an environmentally responsible approach.
