Nice observations with your termites and I like the way you think!
Unfortunately, while termites can shred through plastic on their path to eat cellulose, they can't actually
eat plastic.
You mentioned termites eating your backpack, shoes, and rain jacket.
It's highly likely those items were made of Rayon, Acetate, Lyocell, or Viscose.
These are often called a 'natural synthetic' fabric, which can be confusing.
These are
not made of plastic.
These fabrics are made of
wood pulp, bamboo, soy, or cotton which has been highly processed and extruded as a long fiber.
These 'natural' synthetic fabrics can be made to be highly water-resistant or super-absorbent depending on the need, and the fibers are super-long, so the materials can be both thin, lightweight, and surprisingly strong.
It is 'synthetic' as in: it is heavily processed by humans and not naturally occurring.
But it's all still made of cellulose - still molecularly "made of plants" so termites can still chew & digest it.
You can 100% use termites to dispose of your 'natural-synthetic' fabrics, like tents, old shirts, rain jackets, etc and then eat those termites. You could also toss them some other used-up organic fabrics, like worn-down cotton socks, wool sweaters that are falling apart, torn-up silk ties, etc.
However, 'plastic' garbage is still non-digestible by termites.
True synthetic fabrics like acrylic, nylon, polypropylene, or polyester will not be able to be eaten/digested by insects. The fibers are made of plastic.
--
source: my fiancee went to school for fiber arts & fashion. I've gotten several infodumps on 'natural-synthetic' fibers.
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