On June 7th, Dorset Council’s recycling team held another successful SWISH clothes swap event, this time at Dorchester Corn Exchange. Thank you to those of you who came along and supported us, despite the deluge of rain! It was a busy event with 540 items donated and 450 items taken away – a result we were really pleased with.
For those of you unfamiliar with how SWISH events are organised, people bring along items of clothes, shoes, and accessories that they don’t want anymore, and take away items that they like the look of – and all for free!
We hold these events as part of a campaign to encourage people to dispose of less clothes. Did you know, for example, that the average item of clothing is only worn 10 times before it’s thrown away? The global fashion industry accounts for 10% of carbon emissions, which contributes to climate change. This is due to the energy used to produce, manufacture, and transport clothes.
If we made our clothes last longer and reused or recycled them when we’d finished with them, we can limit our impact on the environment.
Simple steps include:
- Buying preloved clothes – or renting clothes for special occasions
- Spending a little extra when buying new clothes to ensure they’re well-made and will last longer
- Repairing clothes with rips, etc, and removing stains
- Altering and refashioning clothes that we’ve fallen out of love with
- Selling, swapping, and donating clothes we no longer want, or putting them in a textile bank
