Clothing Swaps: Changing more than outfits!

Written by Chantal Boudreau from the CGOW Environment Committee

On Saturday April 11th, the Convent Glen-Orléans Wood Community Association Environment Committee, with financial support from the City of Ottawa, hosted its second Clothing Swap, and it was a huge success! Together, our community donated 2,842 lbs of clothing and textiles, which were recirculated to members of our community and organizations that support them. That’s over a metric tonne of fabric that found new life instead of staying hidden in the back of a closet, or destined for the landfill.

The clothing swap was only possible thanks to the hard work of our 35 volunteers. These volunteers managed to triage 1,421 lbs of same-day donations, while also doing “shopping” for our community organizations. 

The Convent Glen-Orléans Wood Community Association Environment Committee worked with the Caldwell Family Centre and their catering services, and they truly delivered! They provided a mix of dietary options that kept our volunteers nourished during the busy day. We can’t thank the Caldwell Family Centre enough for the work they do! (Note: Leftover food was donated to Street Outreach Society and the Ottawa Mission.)

So what is a Clothing Swap anyway?

Clothing swaps are a way to keep clothing in circulation to give them new life. During these events, people pick from articles of clothing that were donated freely; you do not need to have donated items to pick items and generally the clothing is given for free. Donated clothing is sorted by volunteers to remove damaged clothing for mending and upcycling, and to make finding items a little easier depending on capacity and available space. This year, we were able to offer 17 different categories, including two dedicated tables for kids’ clothing, one for toddlers and another for infants.

What did we do with all those textiles??

We’re thrilled to share that only one (1) donated article could not be used; all other donated items were redistributed! Here’s where they went:

• The majority of the items went directly to members of our community, with 342 people attending in person. We know more people benefited from the clothing, as half of the exit survey respondents shared they had shopped for at least two people, with some shopping for six.
• Over a third of the textiles donated were sorted and redistributed to community organizations based on their wish lists, including: Street Outreach Society, Youville Centre, Dress for Success, Fairy Godmother Ottawa, the Snowsuit Fund of Ottawa, Maison Marie-Louise, the Ottawa Mission, and the Mission Thrift Store. About 1% of the donated items were non-clothing textiles in good condition, which were donated to Helping with Furniture to support their work. Confirming ahead of time what and how much community organizations could accept ensured they only received what they could actually use and had storage for. This was extremely important for this event; we wanted to make sure the donations were helpful, not an accidental burden. 

• Some singular mittens and gloves (e.g. only half of the pair) were delivered to OSEAN for their The Lonely Mitten Project, and some cloth diapers were donated to OSEAN for their cloth diaper trial program.
• Only 1% of donations were damaged, ripped, stained or unwanted items (e.g. used socks and underwear), and these were provided to local upcyclers for use in their projects. Here’s an example of an upcycled makeup case made by a community member.

Sounds like a lot of work, why bother?

Fast fashion has a massive environmental cost and clothing swaps are a way to help extend the useful life of clothing. The UN Environment Programme estimates that the fashion industry is responsible for 2-8 percent of global carbon emissions and is the second-biggest consumer of water (behind agriculture), with a pair of jeans requiring 3,781 liters of water to make (source). With the fast trend cycle, people are buying more than before, and are discarding more as a result. The David Suzuki Foundation notes that “[a]lmost 87 per cent of total fibre input used for clothing is burned or ends up in a landfill.” Here in Ottawa, the City of Ottawa estimates textiles make up between 4% and 6% of waste generated by residents, which is over 410 tonnes of textile waste annually (learn more here). Clothing is often made of synthetic materials, which don’t biodegrade. Clothing swaps are a fun, social, eco-friendly way to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry.

In addition to Clothing Swaps and recirculating clothing, mending clothing you already own is another great way to reduce textile waste. If you’re new to mending, consider taking a Sewing class from Eco Equitable, or attending a mending circle or a Repair Café.