Hands up who has clothes at the back of their wardrobe who haven’t been worn in months?
Who’s got shirts lurking at the back of the rail with their tags still on?
Sounds familiar? According to environmental charity, Hubbub, a third of our clothing goes unworn.
We live in a world where fast fashion has made us believe we need to buying new clothes constantly, while perfectly good ones languish forgotten in only a few weeks.
We don’t need to produce lots more clothes. We need to share, wear and repair the ones we’ve already got.
But how can you share clothes other than taking them to a charity shop?
Hubbub is launching the Street Store programme, it’s an initiative almost anyone can set up, anywhere.
To combat the 300,000 tonnes of clothing that ends up in landfill and to get our unloved clothes loved by someone else, Hubbub have joined forces with the North London Waste Authority to set up a series of Street Stores – essentially bringing your local community together through an organised clothes swap.
A simple clothes rail can be set up in a designated space and people bring along their clothes that are in good condition and swap them for something that’s already there.
Trewin Restorick, CEO of Hubbub, said: “We throw away tonnes of clothes each year, which is terrible news for the environment and bad for our bank balances too. The Street Store trials we ran in North London last year were really popular and we’re excited about extending the scheme to find even more clothes a good home. Increasing the lifespan of our clothes will decrease the amount of clothing that goes to landfill and help local families save money at the same time. We’d encourage anyone interested in the initiative to visit the website and download our simple guide.”
How to organise your own clothes swapping event
Charities, community groups, friends, families, schools and workplaces can all organise a Street Store, where you can swap clothes and pick up advice on how to make your clothes last longer and how to repair them.
1. Download the simple how to organise a Street Store guide.
2. Pick a location that’s easily accessible to members of the public or your designated group, such as cafes, libraries, co-working spaces or schools.
3. Decide whether it’s a one off, regular or themed event – such as Halloween, kidswear, Christmas jumpers etc.
4. Get going!
When we talk on pebble of #EverydayActivism, this is exactly what we have in mind – easy actions, that don’t cost money, that use resources we’ve already got and go to reduce waste.
Think you’d like to organise one? Tag us in with #EverydayActivism and we’ll share.
