Would you buy recycled underwear for the environment? 

Irish Independent columnist Mary McCarthy is one woman who does exactly that. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, she admitted it was a “weird” concept but believes it is an important part of being “environmentally responsible”. 

“It never crossed my mind to wear secondhand underwear when I lived in Ireland - because you couldn’t get it,” she explained. 

“It wasn’t in a charity shop; I never saw it once and I’m a huge secondhand shopper. 

“It’s not something you post in the neighbourhood WhatsApp - it’s not something you give away.

“Even maternity bras; I remember trying to give a friend a bunch and there’s still lots of life in them. 

“But she was like, ‘I’m not taking them’ - so, they go in the bin.” 

Two baskets of dirty laundry. Image: Ingrid Balabanova / Alamy Stock Photo

With sustainability in mind, Ms McCarthy recently challenged herself to buy only five new items a year. 

“I just presumed, underwear, of course, that’s not going to be in it?” she recalled. 

“Then I moved to Brussels and I discovered these lovely charity shops called Les Petits Riens - there’s 28 of them in Brussels - and they stock underwear. 

“And, do you know what? It’s lovely. There’s some really, really nice bras. 

“Better than I’d usually fork out on.” 

Ms McCarthy believes society needs to do “something drastic” to help the planet, adding that “hardly anything gets recycled”. 

“We need to examine everything; all the underwear is getting thrown out,” she said. 

“9% of all textiles, which is clothing, shoes and household stuff like towels, is thrown out without being used in the EU every year.”

Main image: A drawer full of bras. Picture by: Alamy.com.