👕 “Swap, Don’t Shop” School Initiative: Promoting Clothes Circularity.

To commemorate Earth Day, the EkoSkola committee launched a clothes swapping activity designed to actively promote consumption reduction and slow fashion within the school community. This practical demonstration of the Circular Economy model challenged the conventional linear consumption model (buy-use-dispose) and the consumeristic culture for fast fashion.

🎯 Implementation

The core event involves placing a designated clothes rail and hangers in the school foyer during recess. Students are encouraged to participate by bringing a maximum of two items of pre-loved clothing to donate, and in turn, can select any item to take home for reuse.

The EkoSkola students created a dedicated Google Spreadsheet to track and quantify the project’s success, specifically monitoring:

• The volume of pre-loved items donated (preventing clothes from going to waste)
• The number of items successfully adopted (repurposing of clothes).

🌍 Sustainable Impact and Continuity

The aim of this initiative is to shift cultural norms by instilling the practice of second-hand purchasing and clothes donation instead of disposal in landfills. The plan is to implement the “Swap, Don’t Shop” event every school term, thus ensuring sustained waste reduction and promoting an ongoing culture of sustainable consumption within the school community.