Changing clothes helps the environment |

Who never had the joy of inheriting clothes or shoes from older brothers and cousins, as a child? Who never had an aunt or grandmother who bought clothes for the children, in larger sizes, to last longer? Current “sustainable consumption” trends have brought back some of these habits that are so important in our lives.

Imagine how nice it is to exchange that beautiful blouse with a friend that you’ve always liked, but never found one like it to buy, or that costs too much in designer stores. Imagine still having an exclusive and original piece, without having to pay a single real for it. This is the idea of ​​“swapping” clothes: making something you no longer use useful to someone else, exchanging it for things you always wanted but were never able to buy.

This is the idea of ​​“swapping” clothes: making something you no longer use useful to someone else, exchanging it for things you always wanted but were never able to buy.

You can call this “exchange” a bazaar, a fair, or even a meeting. But the tendency is for this idea to become more and more popular. Currently, there are already blogs and social networks that promote this idea through online exchanges, whose only cost is delivery freight. But you can also research face-to-face meeting opportunities, or even invent your own “swap-swap”, bringing together friends and family. Contrary to what some think, these meetings do not necessarily symbolize lack of money to buy new things, on the contrary, the chic now is to be aware! Let’s learn to value all the things around us, through the 5 R’s: reflect, refuse, reuse, reduce and recycle.

avoid waste

Every day we are driven to make more and more purchases, and sometimes we end up buying things we don’t need and accumulating belongings that are no use to us. These exaggerated consumption habits cause us to lose money, in addition to unnecessarily generating manufacturing waste, such as, for example, scraps of fabric left over in clothing, water contaminated by dyeing new fabrics, among others. We contribute to the increase in the manufacture of products that are not useful to us, and we also generate more waste from products that have had very little useful life.

A garment should last at least 10 years in continuous use – provided it is well cared for and of good origin – but it can take up to hundreds of years (depending on the material) for it to decompose in the soil. Now imagine an outfit you’ve had for years and only worn once or twice. The useful life of the piece could be much longer if it wasn’t attached to your wardrobe. Therefore, it is very important to be attentive when buying, not to be deceived by shop windows and promotions, and only take home what we are really going to use.

Create your own swap meet

Those who prefer can take the initiative and hold their own meeting, gathering family and friends at home. The idea is just to exchange the pieces and not sell them, precisely to avoid excessive consumption, and thus allow everyone to take advantage of the clothes they don’t use as a bargaining chip for new pieces they would like to have. Discuss this idea with your guests and publicize the date as you wish. But in the case of something intimate, I advise you not to use online invitations, as your meeting could take on a very large proportion, losing the concept of meeting friends.

Check out some important tips for you to set up your own clothing exchange meeting below:

Choose a spacious, comfortable space with good lighting. Arrange in advance with the guests if the pieces will vary in price or if each piece is worth another piece. In the case of pieces with different values, use labels, establishing price ranges. Try to have at least: a rack, a large mirror, hangers, bags and, if possible, a nearby bathroom for people to try on clothes. Ask all guests to bring a different dish and set up a food and drink table. This way the meeting will be more pleasant.

Exchange meetings are excellent opportunities to acquire new and exclusive pieces, redesign your style and even get rid of pieces you no longer like, don’t use, or don’t interest you. In the case of family gatherings, you can even exchange gifts, agreeing that each one should present specific people who would like certain pieces of clothing more.

Either way, it’s always worth doing that “cleaning” in the wardrobe. I recommend that you do this every six months at least, in order to analyze your pieces and see what is really useful for you. Keeping the wardrobe well organized and cleaning up to date, we avoid unnecessary expenses and remember forgotten pieces in the wardrobe, which can be of great use to us – even if it is for the use of a friend. In case you don’t like the meetings, after the “cleaning” pass your pieces on to people you know would wear them, or to charities. The important thing is to extend as much as possible the useful life of each piece of clothing that we buy one day.

By changing clothes, we avoid wasting raw materials for the manufacture of parts, we reduce the volume of waste produced, and thus we act in the most important action for the sustainability of the environment: consume with conscience!