Why Clothes Swaps Are Great for the Environment and Your Pocket
Clothes swaps are great for the environment and even better for saving money. We love taking part in swaps and hosting them, we've even got one at our shop on Wednesday, 1st June if live anywhere near Newcastle / Gateshead. Find out more here.
But why are clothes swaps so good? It comes down to being a planet-friendly and budget-friendly idea.
Why Clothes Swaps Are a Great Way of Saving the Planet and Your Wallet
Ways to Swap Clothes Online and In-person
There are so many ways to swap clothes with other people. The more formal kind of clothes swap is to attend a clothes swap event near you. These are one-off or recurring events where you bring a set number of items of your own clothing with you. Each item of clothing is turned into tokens that you can use to pick up a garment someone else has brought.
It's a great way of finding new clothes without spending any money. Great for having a wardrobe clear-out and bringing in the new.
But events like these aren't the only way. You can swap clothes with, well, anyone! Whether it's a friend, auntie, brother, colleague, there's no reason why we can't swap our clothes with each other. It's great for throwing on something different for a night out, or for moving on something you just don't wear anymore (maybe it doesn't fit, shh don't tell anyone!).
It's easier than ever to swap clothes online thanks to social media groups and other great organisations. The Great British Clothes Swap is a 20,000+ member strong Facebook Group dedicated to swapping and selling clothes.
We had a great chat with Laura Naude, founder of the Great British Clothes Swap group who said: "We are all striving towards a more eco-friendly way of living, and want to keep items out of landfill. We also all want to look and feel good in our clothes, and have a guilt free way of getting new items."
Other Great Places to Swap Clothes Online
Depop, Vinted
Most of the platforms you use for selling, your Depop's, Vinted's etc can be used for swapping. Although you should be careful to do this according to each site's guidelines.
For example, Depop says to perform the swap by buying an item of the same value. This means the purchase is still covered by Depop's buyer protection.
Untagged Fashion
Untaggedfashion.com is another option for swapping clothes online. You download the app and turn your old clothes into tokens. You can then spend these tokens on new clothes that you fancy the look of.
Thrift+
Thrift+ offers a different kind of clothes swapping in that you send your to them to process. Their team of experts then checks and photographs each item. You agree on a price to sell it at, which either goes to charity, or you can keep 100% of the profits in the form of credits. You can then use these credits to buy new to you things on their website.
The Benefits of Swapping Clothes
- Saves you trudging round the shops!
- Great excuse to see a friend or family member and get swapping
- We've already got enough clothes for the next six generations on this planet, let's use what we already have
- Say bye bye to brand new fast fashion. By swapping clothes you aren't supporting the fast fashion industry.
- You can wear lots of new to you clothes without having to spend a fortune on monthly hauls...
- So that means more money for trips out, meals, living life!
- Find something different that isn't on-trend or in season
- You can keep swapping upwards and swap your way to something designer and swanky!
- Clothes Swap events mean all the clothes you swap are in one place, which potentially saves you time, transport costs
- You get to refresh your wardrobe and get something back
- By swapping clothes you reduce the demand on raw materials to make new clothes - saving water, land use, reducing CO2 emissions
Why do you love swapping clothes? Is it the unique styles? For fun? Let us know in the comments below or send us an email! 👇
