Clothes swaps are such a neat way to keep the giving going by promoting sustainable practices that mitigate the impact of overconsumption within fast fashion. Below we breakdown what you might need to be able to host your own clothes swap.
Essential Equipment
The items listed below are our recommended essentials but few free to experiment with what equipment makes sense for you! We know that the acquiring the equipment itself can present a barrier and recommend sourcing it from free things facebook pages. Finally, the function below may seem straightforward but we added notes on why we recommend
table
hangers
clothes racks: we recommend using a clothes rack because it makes it easier for people to look through the clothes. We've noticed that the presentation of the clothes impact a person's interest in browsing through the item, and also someone's willingness to participate
bins
bags
Planning
marketing: create a flyer for the event that can be shared publicly
schedule for the day: this includes what time is setup, what time is the actual event, what time is cleanup
swapping guidelines: these are the guidelines that you setup for the event. here are some that we recommend
item limit: this is the maximum amount of items you would individuals to bring.
condition of item
types of items accepted: are you only accepting clothes? shoes? underwear?
who can participate in: typically we allow anyone, even those who were not able to bring clothes, to participate.
swap team: who is the team that will help you run and manage the event? depending on the size of the event, this can be an activity that is done entirely by one person or can be a self-serving event, however, again, it depends on what event you are interested in having
Other things to consider
location: weather, is the area sloped, is the area paved, grass, mulch?
weather
canopy: helpful for places that extra sunny
extra bags: extra bags are helpful for people that might need to carry their items
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