Your how-to guide to a Clothing Swap

Cleaning out your closet is great for getting rid of clothing you do not wear, but even better for making room for new items. Don’t have the budget to add new items? CLOTHING SWAP!

Hosting a clothing swap party is a great way to gather friends for a fun day of dress up. This doesn’t apply to only women though; it could be co-ed, gender specific or for kids and can even include accessories.
Recycling your old clothes will reduce your environmental footprint by keeping textiles out of landfills and reduces your personal consumption. Instead of sending your gently used items to the trash you can help the environment, the community and your budget- What more can you ask for?

Avalon’s Service and Warranty Team Lead, Rachel Hession, attended a clothing swap over the weekend and found some new gems to add to her wardrobe, while recycling her own outfits. Here’s how you can host your own clothing swap:

Make It a Date: Gather friends together for an evening of snacks, music, and of course fashion. Decide the size of group you would like or if you want to set a theme. Note that the more people invited, the more variety there will be, so get to know your neighbors by inviting them over!

Set Guidelines: Decide on what clothes you would like to have swapped whether you prefer it to be specific to the season, gender, age or category of items (example: jeans or active wear). Encourage everyone to bring items that are gently used and pre-washed.

Setting the Swap: Allow everyone to place their contributions into the pile and begin pulling out items of interest. Once everyone has a couple of items, take a break to try them on to evaluate if you want to keep them or throw them back into the pile for another participant to choose. Continue until everyone is satisfied with their new finds.

Donate the Leftovers: This is a great way to do good in your hood. The items that were not chosen through the swap can be taken right to local drop off locations such as GoodWill or homeless shelters around the city.

Repeat Seasonally: Refresh your closet every few months by setting aside the items you no longer wear to bring to the next swap.
By contributing to a clothing swap you are keeping the green on the earth and in your pocket.
Happy swapping!

Posted in Calgary Townhomes, Lifestyle, ZEN By Avalon Master Builder, ZEN Cranston, ZEN Ravenswood in Airdrie | Tagged in | No Comment.