Western Bay of Plenty residents are invited to ditch their fast fashion addictions this month and shop sustainably instead at an Autumn Clothes Swap hosted by Envirohub BOP.
Envirohub BOP project coordinator Milly McHardie says the event on Friday, May 19 at 31B Glasgow St, Tauranga City, is a chance to freshen autumn-winter wardrobes at an affordable price while helping to save the planet.
'So fast fashion as a whole, it is not great for the environment,” says Milly.
Fast fashion
Fast fashion is replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs and mass-producing them at a low cost for retail stores quickly while demand is at its highest. This encourages shoppers to continually buy clothing to keep up with fashion – with the excessive consumption detrimental to the environment with many items ending up dumped.
Milly says one way to curtail production of new clothing is swapping what is already produced – hence the clothes swap on May 19 at the Envirohub BOP base.
'Second-hand shopping and swapping is a great opportunity and a low-cost way to try out different clothing styles without having an impact on the environment.”
The swap is free on May 19, from 6pm-8pm. 'We ask people to turn up at 6pm with a maximum of five clothing items – they can have a free drink and nibbles while we hang the items.”
At 6.30pm the swap begins – where individuals can swap as many items as they brought along. 'We encourage participants to bring gold coins in case they find more pieces than what they've brought,” says Milly.
Turning Point
Milly says all donations will be given to The Turning Point Trust. 'Please note your items may sell even if you don't find a swap. So only bring pieces you're ready to part with.”
While people can bring any clothing they want to swap – with winter approaching Milly asks for trans-seasonal pieces.'I wouldn't suggest bringing a bikini going into winter. Last swap I brought a top I'd had for ages and never wore – now my co-worker wears it regularly.” For more information on this event, see: https://envirohub.org.nz/event/autumn-clothes-swap/