Clothes and shoes recycling – When to do it
May 7, 2025It’s time for a Spring Clean and Clothes and shoes recycling are all a part of this. Pancake Day has just passed, and lovely weather is just around the corner.
Did you make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? I confess I forgot. It’s a very old tradition that has been kept up probably because pancakes are somehow so fun. Unlike Russians who eat their tiny pancakes, called blinis, all the time, for births, deaths, and parties as well as a special pre-Lent ritual, most of us here in the UK don’t tend to make pancakes as part of a regular meal. It is thought that we did take the idea from the ancient Slavic tradition though, as it is a very handy way to use up eggs, butter and milk before the austere times of Lent. The Slavic tradition is to make little round pancakes like the sun, in order to honour it and ask it to come back from the cold winter.
Practice Makes Perfect!
Pancakes take a certain amount of practice to make well and for some reason, the first one is always a dud. You have to plan on making a whole stack of them to make it worthwhile and I think the best way to eat it is hot from the pan. This means that everyone has to sit around the table waiting while you slide a perfect circle of pancake onto each of their plates in turn. It also means that the apronned chef doesn’t get to eat with everyone else as they cook so quickly you need to pay attention. It’s worth it though. Let’s face it, fried foods are always the best foods. Paired with sugar and lemon or golden syrup, I don’t think they can be beaten. Some like Nutella, cream, bananas and berries, and please feel free, but I like the crunch of sugar.
Clothes and shoes recycling – Pancake Day, to get ready for spring
So why am I talking about Shrove Tuesday? Well, because it is a marker of Spring. The date changes every year, but it is an important ritual, a way of preparing for a contemplative period where you don’t eat any fun things, before Easter when you eat something maybe even more fun, an Easter Egg. These are both pagan celebrations which have become Christian celebrations. The early Christian church thought why fight against people’s customs when it is easier just to claim them as your own? Much like Yule became Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus. There are people who have theorised that the birthday of the actual historical figure was not 25th December. They think it was later in the year. Bu it’s just more convenient that way.
So, Spring is, of course, the time when we do our Spring Cleaning. As soon as it starts getting a bit lighter outside, it feels natural to suddenly start noticing all the cobwebs and feeling like we might want to have a bit of a clear out. Textile recycling has a positive impact on both the environment and our mood.
Unless you are doing a challenge like Buy Nothing All Year, you will probably have bought a few items of clothing this autumn and winter. And so what you might want to do is reduce the number of items in your wardrobe by that amount. This will stop your clothes from bursting from the rails, allow you to see what you’ve got, and thrift stores and other local organizations will be delighted to receive your textile waste, pounds of clothes, and clothes shoes.
Clothes and shoes recycling – Why is it called Shrove Tuesday?
The name of Shrove Tuesday is taken from the word “Shriven”. Traditionally on the Tuesday before Lent, Christians went to church to ask forgiveness for anything they felt they had done wrong. They would then be “shriven” – wiped clean spiritually. The strict rules around eating simple food and not having fun at Lent would further help them to be ready for Spring and the new year. A bit like our spring cleaning – out with the old and in with the new!
The actual date of Pancake Day varies. This is because the date of Lent varies, and this is because it has to come directly before Easter Day. The date of Easter Day changes every year. It’s due to the fact that Easter is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the spring equinox. Easter, and therefore Lent, and therefore Pancake Day, is based on the Lunar calendar. The Lunar calendar is based on the phases of the moon. It takes exactly 29 1/2 days for the moon to complete its cycle. This is new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent.
Lunar vs Gregorian Calendar
Clothes and Shoes recycling – Easter Eggs
But in the UK, we don’t use the Lunar Calendar. We use the Gregorian Calendar, which we adopted in 1752. As you know, in this, the 12 months are divided up unequally. They can be anything from 28 to 31 days long. Every fourth year we add a day onto February. This is called a leap year, and is added to try to make everything match up a bit. No month is 29.5 days long, and so the two calendars don’t fit together from year to year. Easter needs to correspond with Passover. This is because Christians believe that Jesus was crucified then.
However, whichever date it falls on, we know that spring is just about here when we have Pancake Day. It’s time to eat lovely food and get on with the business of cleaning ready for a lovely year ahead!
