What should be done with...???

As I have been sorting through kids clothing, weeding out the too small or seasonal summer gear, I have come across several pieces with which I do not know what to do? Good quality jeans with broken zipper; lined jacket with, again, broken zipper; t-shirts too stained to pass down (bleach and I are not companions). Hating to see them simply tossed in the trash, but unable to do the necessary repairs (and knowing the cost of newly installed zippers is excessively high for what were free pieces of clothing), with an already overflowing rag bucket, and unwilling to donate un-saleable items to the local secondhand shop (and thereby leaving it with them to purge), I question their fate?

While visiting with my inspirational, funky friend Faye this morning, I revealed this dilemma. "Well," she said thoughtfully, "Sometimes I put them in separate bags with a note on it and give them to Value Village - they say they have someone who takes the damaged items...or if they're not toxic or plastic-y I remove buttons and zippers and shred them for the fire pile and toss them on...do you have a backyard burn bucket?" The answer being "no" we don't. As I glanced at her she knowingly held up her hand, palm towards me, "I do NOT want them for my firepit," she stated firmly, winking in a mischievous almost-maternal manner as though she thought I honestly would leave a box outside her front door (which I probably might have had she not unflinchingly denied me the opportunity).

Hmmmm...the burning/fire idea got me thinking. Could I compost them? The cotton denim atleast? And what about that company I had previously heard of that makes insulation from old jeans?



Planetgreen.com had some suggestions for old denim: area rugs, coasters, etc.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/home-garden/delightful-denim-great-crafts-that-reuse-your-jeans.html

So, hmmm, what shall it be? Considering I am attempting to declutter, the idea of holding on to them to possibly, someday in the future, maybe recycle them into some sort of unneeded coaster, means I am choosing compost for the jeans and stained shirt and neighbour fire (if they say yes) for the double-lined jacket...Thanks, Faye!