You’ve got the recycling down pat and keep your showers short, but how green are you when it comes to your garments?
In a world of fast fashion, the temptation to buy something new and often lurks in every shop window. In fact this year alone we’ll spend $1.7 billion on clothes we won’t even wear – the very opposite to an eco-friendly and sustainable practice.
While op shopping has gained mainstream momentum, do you have to give up all hope of style and become a tree-hugging hippie to make your sartorial choices sustainable?
Thanks to Australian company The Clothing Exchange, the answer is (thankfully!) no.
Today (October 9) marks the fourth National Swap Day, an initiative run by The Clothing Exchange to raise the profile of swapping as a sustainable and thrifty alternative to shopping.
Held simultaneously in Melbourne, Sydney and on the Sunshine Coast, each event will see around 100 eager “shoppers” swap items with each other to reduce their fashion footprint.
Some past events have attracted people in the thousands. Not bad for what owner Kate Luckins calls “an accidental business”.
“I wanted to address the problem of the billions of dollars spent annually on clothes that aren’t worn and came up with the concept of the exchange events,” Kate says.
“The social enterprise aspect evolved because I needed to make the events accessible and sustain them.”
Attendees are asked to bring up to six good-quality, preloved garments and accessories that could be exchanged for the currency of the evening – buttons. Each button is used to purchase one piece of clothing or accessory.
All items are put on display then it’s shopping as usual!
Guests are also treated to door prizes and guest speakers – the Melbourne event will host the founders of local sustainable fashion publication Hessian Magazine – as well as the chance to update their wardrobe.
“In the early days I’d throw in countless items in of my own,” Kate says.
“My nanna’s vintage scarves, $300 jeans – whatever I had.
“I’m now excellent at culling my wardrobe but it’s definitely a skill you cultivate – it’s not easy to detach sometimes!”
Kate’s biggest tip for a successful swap shop is to swap items you value and think others will appreciate but that you are definitely emotionally detached from.
The result is like raiding your friend’s wardrobe or an up-market opshop.
“I’d say the normal haul is to find one real gem, a couple of solid basics and maybe something a little quirky,” Kate said.
“It’s not wall-to-wall designer, but we do get some premium items.”
Items leftover at the end of the event are donated to charity.
It’s the most stylish way to be sustainable, says Kate.
“We’re a proven example that shows you can have a boundless wardrobe without costing the earth, economically and environmentally speaking.
“Swapping has really hit the mainstream and we are one of the tried-and-true examples of collaborative consumption,” she said.
“People enjoy picking up ‘new’ things, but they also enjoy relieving themselves of the clutter in their wardrobes.
“It’s a win-win and to me, that’s what a sustainable lifestyle is all about – our lives can potentially become better with less”.
Maybe it is easy being green after all.
Melbourne Event
Where: Deakin Edge, Federation Square
When: Thursday October 9. Check-in from 6.30pm.
Swapping starts 7pm
Tickets: $20 (two-for-one tickets available online only. Get them here)
