On a shiny day, I was cleaning up thrash around my flat. I put in a request for residents to help me out and some kind souls replied. Especially, in times of lockdown, it was refreshing to work and talk with new people. One of the kind persons I met asked me if I like clothes swap parties. I told her I had never been involved in such a thing since I did not know the right people and that the COVID situation did not make things easier. I did tell her about how I love to go to the thrift shop and that I am always on the hunt for second hand clothing. After this, I was informed on the concept of the clothes chain swap, a COVID proof alternative to clothes swap parties. I immediately accepted to join and did not regret it at all. In this post, I will give you a small insight on how to join/ organize a clothes swap chain and the environmental impact you can make.

The concept of the clothes swap chain is surprisingly simple and a big hype here in the Netherlands, our national news even reported on it. To start, you either can join a group or make one yourself. If you live in the Netherlands, the website www.kledingkettingruil.nl can give you an insight on available groups to join. There are also numerous Facebook group available which you can join. I bet that if you look on the web for your country, you will be able to find a local alternative as well. If the latter is not the case, you can always take fate into your own hands and start a fashion revolution yourself. You will need to start with a pool of people. How the group I joined started was through an announcement in our flat, and some mouth-to-mouth advertising. You can also try another community to start with, think about your church, sports club, school or work place. When you have about 5-10 people, you can start making a logical path. A bag (preferably a big shopper) will be travelling between participants, and it is good to figure out who lives closest to one another to make a logical path to decrease commuting time between participants. Once you have established the path, make a group chat where people can talk and a living document in which everybody can keep track where the bag is. Also make sure to lay down some ground rules. For example, what kind of items may go into the bag, how long can somebody take to shop from the bag, what kind of subjects may be discussed in the group, etc. Once you have finished the logistics, it is time to make the first steps. In the first run you will need to start with collecting some more clothes to put in the bag, but after the start-up phase you can put about three to four items in the bag and bring it to the next person in line. Usually the bag tends to fill up quickly, so take what you like. If after a full cycle, some of your clothes are still in the bag, then take them out and donate them to charity or find another useful alternative for them. In the group I joined, the leader has selected a charity for us, so people can donate through her, very convenient. You can also ask members to spread the word and grow your group. In our group, people always post pictures of the stuff they have taken out, so you can see where your clothes ended up. It is a great way to boost some endorphins and to meet some new people.

On top of the fact that a clothes swap is a fun and surprising activity, it also comes with an environmental benefit. First, it reduces the amount of trips to the shop or webshop, so transportation costs of products are reduced significantly. It also reduces the amount of clothes needing to be manufactured, which in its turn saves water, materials, energy and other sparse resources. For example, cotton production has been linked to the drying out of the Aral lake basin in Central Asia. Most of us are already aware of the pollution associated with fast fashion, it contributes to 10% of our global carbon emissions, thus a clothes swap is a great way to shop for a ‘new’ look without having to put more pressure on the planet. The last thing I would like to point out about the clothes swap is that it also reduces waste. Not all clothes are given to charity, some just end up in the bin. Even though big fashion giants are now trying to reuse clothes which costumers put in their recycle bins, it is better to not have to put in extra energy into the production of new clothes at all. A clothes swap promotes a more circular approach to garments we do no longer like or wear, and thus reduces waste significantly in an energy efficient way.

For me, there is only one thing left to say, go out there and start your fashion revolution! If you have tips or thoughts, you are most welcome to share them in the comments section.

Love, Rinoa

P.S. Want to read more on sustainable fashion? You might like my blog posts ‘My Merry Christmas Outfit‘ and ‘The Treasure Trove‘ which focus on reusing clothes.

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