ECO-FRIENDLY CLOTHING DRIVE ORGANIZED BY JUNIOR

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March 3, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here. 

Clothing drive organized by Notre Dame Prep junior to help reduce landfill waste and find a sustainable end-of-life purpose for uniforms and other logoed clothing merchandise.

NexTiles is a Detroit-based textile recycling and secondary use company, specializing in manufacturing eco-friendly textile products that can re-enter the circular economy at end of life. For Payton Schmit, NexTiles fit perfectly in her two-fold initiative to eliminate landfill waste and find an extra way to re-purpose old Notre Dame Prep uniforms.

Last Friday, Schmit held a "casual for a cause" day with proceeds going to help process the clothing that comes in this week Monday through Wednesday during her clothing drive.

"My initiative with NDP and NexTiles was to create a clothing drive to help eliminate textile landfill waste," said the junior from Clarkston. "NexTiles is a textile recycling company that produces nontoxic building insulation and consumer products made entirely from donated clothing and fabrics. So I reached out to NexTiles CEO and founder, Madeline Miller, in hopes of partnering with her company to process "non-donatable" clothing items from our NDP community."

She said students can bring in any worn down, torn, stained, personalized clothing (named, NDP apparel, sports/company apparel), and any other non-donatable items that ultimately will be sent to NexTiles, which will then recycle them into eco-friendly products so they don't end up in a landfill. 

NexTiles repurposes the clothing to produce a number of products including EcoBlow, a nontoxic, eco-friendly building insulation made entirely of recycled pre-consumer fabric from manufacturers, particularly automotive interior suppliers, and fashion designers — and schools, according to Schmit.

"I have a goal of reaching 1,000 pounds of clothing donations from NDP, which would require about 30% participation from the upper school," she added.

The germ of her idea actually originated when NDP began transitioning to new uniform pieces due to the rebranding of the school.

"Due to proprietary issues, most of the uniforms cannot be donated to Salvation Army, Goodwill, and other thrift stores because of the embroidered logos," Schmit said. "So I began to research how our uniforms could be recycled along with other clothing items we all have that cannot be donated due to excessive wear and or other personalization.

She said she was excited to learn about NexTiles mission for a number of reasons. 

"Firstly, it's a woman-owned, Detroit-based company that operates out of the Focus: HOPE facility, which is a nonprofit organization providing education and training for underrepresented minorities and others," said Schmit, who first came to NDP as a sixth grader. "Secondly, I learned that the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 17 million tons of textiles are thrown away each year and textile waste makes up 6% of all material in landfills. Partnering with NexTiles provided the ideal opportunity for our NDP community to reduce its own textile waste for a more sustainable future." 

She adds that her fingers are crossed that the NDP community comes through for her initiative.

Meanwhile, Schmit is charging through her junior year at a school that she says has given her much.

"My experience at NDP has been positive thanks to engaging teachers, a welcoming community and challenging academics," she said. "I've also been fortunate to participate in several clubs and programs that have given me exposure to various experiences."

In addition, she says that her time at Notre Dame Prep is preparing her for college and is giving her support to help her achieve her many goals. 

"I also have appreciated being surrounded by a community of like-minded people who encourage me and my peers to better ourselves and our community."

College is still distant on her horizon, but not far from her thought process. 

"Currently, I have been visiting colleges and exploring different career possibilities as well," she said. "While I am still unsure of what I want to focus my studies on after high school, as of right now, I may be considering something in business."

 

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndprep.org.