Three years ago, Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting the disposal of used clothing and textiles. The law aims to reduce waste and promote recycling and repurposing. While many are unaware of the nascent law, MIT students at the helm of Infinite Threads were happy to see its passage.
Infinite Threads is a spinoff of the Undergraduate Association Sustainability Committee–a group of students running reuse-related events since 2013. With new leadership and a new focus, Infinite Threads went from holding three to four popup sales a year to nine.
A group of students collects lightly used clothing from MIT community members and sells the items at deeply discounted prices at popup sales held several times each semester. Sales take place outside of the Student Center to optimize the high foot traffic in the area. Anyone can purchase items at the sales, and Infinite Threads also accepts clothing donations at the popups as well.
Administrators, Cameron Dougal, a senior studying Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science (Course 11-6), and Erin Hovendon, a junior in Mechanical Engineering (Course 2), led the small student-run organization for much of the year.
Cameron Dougal (center) helps a student at the popup Thrift Store sale.
“Our mission is to reduce material waste. We collect a lot of clothing at the end of the spring semester when students are moving out of their residence halls. We then sell items such as shirts, jackets, pants, and jeans at the popup sales for $2 to $6,” said Dougal. Adding, “We often have a lot of leftover t-shirts from residence hall events and career fairs that we give away for free. These MIT-related items demonstrate the importance of a hyperlocal reuse ecosystem. As soon as these types of items leave campus, there is a much lower chance that they will find a new home.”
Hovendon, who has an interest in sustainability and hopes to pursue a career in renewable energy, joined the group after seeing an email sent to DormSpam. “It was a great opportunity to jump into a sustainability leadership role while also helping the MIT community. We aim to offer affordable clothing options, and we get a lot of positive feedback about the thrift popups—I love hearing from students that they got clothing items they now wear frequently from one of our sales,” says Hovendon.
We don’t make a lot of money at the sales—it’s not our goal. Our goal is to help the environment.
Erin Hovendon
“Any money made at the popups is used to pay the student workers and to rent the U-Haul we use to bring the clothing we store at MIT’s Furniture Exchange warehouse to the Student Center. Our goal is simple: we want to keep clothing out of landfills, which in return helps the planet,” says Dougal.
Studies say that a pair of cotton denim jeans can take up to a year to decompose, while jeans or items of clothing made with polyester can take 40-200 years to decompose. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, blue jeans account for 5 percent of landfill space. Infinite Threads saves clothing items from ending up in landfills.
Hovendon agrees, “We don’t make a lot of money at the sales—it’s not our goal. Our goal is to help the environment. We received some seed funding from the MIT Women’s League, the Office of Sustainability, and the MIT Fabric Innovation Hub.”
“Infinite Threads is a fantastic model for how students can directly take action, empower individuals, and leverage the collective community to design out clothing waste and climate impacts through the re-use culture. MIT students, like Cameron and Erin, are well-positioned to tackle sustainability challenges on campus and out in the world as they bring a willingness to solve complex challenges, experiment with many solutions, and grapple with operational realities,” says Brian Goldberg, assistant director, Office of Suitability.
I love being able to help out with waste reduction and sustainability efforts on campus.
Lauren Higgins, Course 17
In 2024-2025, the club sold over 1,000 clothing items. Any clothing that does not sell at the thrift shop is given to Helpsy, an organization that helps keep clothing out of the trash and landfills while also creating jobs. Dougal and Hovendon say they have diverted about 750 pounds of textiles to Helpsy in 2024-2025 alone.
Lauren Higgins, a junior majoring in political science (Course 17), took over managing Infinite Threads from Dougal earlier this year says, “I originally joined as one of the staff for Infinite Threads, and I love being able to help out with waste reduction and sustainability efforts on campus. It’s been great to see our impact, and I hope we’re able to continue that this upcoming year.”
