Our Impact

& How We’re Doing It

2,153 pounds of clothing diverted from landfills.

699 pounds of vintage clothing has gone to new homes and 1454 pounds of material has been recirculated into the Portland Community.

38,949 liters of water saved.

We follow Depop’s calculation for water saved, which can be found here.

9,620 pounds of CO2 saved.

The production of 1 cotton shirt generates ~15 pounds of CO2, which is comparable to burning 1 gallon of gas. A pair of jeans releases ~44 pounds. Learn more here.

899 Trees Planted in the US.

The Elm Project plants 1 tree for every item sold, our small step in making a greener planet.

Our Projects & Partners

We are better together. Check out what we are working on and who is helping us get there.

  • For each item that TEP sells, we plant 1 tree.

    Trees are the lungs of our planet, absorbing carbon dioxide and producing clean oxygen. By planting trees, we are fighting climate change and creating habitats for wildlife.

    Reforestation is a big job, and TEP leverages a number of trusted partners to get it done. The U.S Forest Service and OneTreePlanted are 2 resources we have trusted since 2021 to plant trees here in Oregon.

    Check them out to learn more!

  • The world uses 5 trillion plastic bags annually, and only 13% make it to a recycling facility. TEP Totes were created to tackle plastic waste crisis.

    TEP Totes are strategically sourced from high quality canvas to last over years of wear and tear. They’re great for grocery runs, but we hope you use them for so much more.

    Check out this article to learn more about single-use bags.

  • Here is where our passions lie- finding the beauty and potential in things no one else does.

    This project is all about turning something old into something new, and diverting as much from the landfills as we possibly can. We leverage our local creative reuse store SCRAP PDX and other corporate partnerships to source our materials.

    We take the unused/excess/left over fabric donations and handcraft them into something new and exciting.

  • Did you know less than 50% of all donated items to thrift store actually make it onto the shelves?

    That is why we partnered with William Temple House here in Portland to reduce the number of clothes hitting the landfill. With this program, we take clothing not fit for sale, repaired it back to health, and recirculated back into the community.

    Our team averages 25lbs of clothing laundered or repaired each week, and are always looking for a few extra volunteers.

    Learn more crazy clothing facts here.

  • Vintage & preloved shopping is the greenest way to buy, but there are so many other reasons why we love to shop second hand.

    Vintage is the ultimate expression of creativity and encourages quality over quantity- but honestly, why not have both?

    At TEP, we have helped hundreds of sustainable shoppers find brands and pieces they love while keeping affordability at the forefront of our mission.

    Each item is intentionally chosen with you in mind by our team of design oriented volunteers.

  • Ever wish you could do something other than throw away the shipping bag your Amazon order comes in? Us too.

    This is why we created a small local network of shipping bag drop offs and collection sites. It’s not sexy, but every TEP product bought is sent in a second-life mailer. We hope to grow this network to source to and encourage other small businesses to follow suit.

    We have given a second life to hundreds of mailers, and thank you for supporting our mission of using what we have.

Startling Stats

  • On average, ONE supermarket goes through 60,500,000 paper bags per year

  • The US makes up only 5% of the world population, but it throws away enough plastic bottles in a week to encircle the Earth 5 times

  • A modern glass bottle takes 4000 years or more to decompose- yet glass is an infinitely recyclable material

  • Recycling one aluminum can save enough energy to run a TV for three hours

  • Up to 90% of the energy used during a washing machine’s cleaning cycle goes into heating the water, so use the cold setting

  • Germany has the best recycling rate in the world followed by Austria, South Korea, and Wales. The US ranks no. 25

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