Clothes Swaps

Why clothes swaps?

It’s common knowledge that people in the UK have a serious obsession with shopping. In fact, 50% of all the products we buy are clothes!

On average, we throw away 30kg of unwanted items per person each year. Not only is this damaging to the environment but it’s damaging to our pockets as well.

Instead of throwing all of these clothes away why not attend or organise a clothes swap party?

What is a clothes swap?

Clothes swaps, also called swishing parties, involve the swapping of your unwanted menswear, womenswear and childrenswear with other people. It’s a great opportunity for you to get rid of all those clothes cluttering up wardrobes.

People are asked to bring at least one item of unwanted clothing with them, the value of the items do not matter, as long as they are in a decent wearable condition. They can then look at the other donated clothes and pick out items they like for free. The more people that attend, the more clothes are donated and therefore the more choice available.

It first began when Lucy Shea, founder of green PR firm Futerra, and her work colleagues wanted to come up with a way to combine a love of retail shopping without contributing to increased consumption.

Find out how to organise your own clothes swap here.

Organising a clothes swap party

Organising a clothes swap doesn’t have to be a lot of work, it can be as big or small as you want it to be.

How about inviting some friends over with some drinks and nibbles and swapping your clothes that way? You could also hold an event at your local coffee morning, community centre or school.

If you’re feeling adventurous why not organise a larger scale event whilst raising money for charity at the same time?

We’ve put together a Clothes Swap Kit for putting on your own swap:

Clothes Swap Kits can be borrowed from the following locations:

• Recycle Devon, c/o Reuse Shop, Pinbrook Road Recycling Centre, EX4 8HU (Monday – Wednesday, 10am to 4pm)
• East Devon District Council, Blackdown House, Border Road, Heathpark Industrial Estate, Honiton, EX14 1EJ (Monday – Friday, 9am to 4.30pm)
• North Devon Council, Lynton House, Commercial Road, Barnstaple, EX31 1DG (Monday – Friday, between 10.30am and 4pm only)
• Exeter City Council, Oakwood House, Exton Road, EX2 8NR (Monday – Friday, 10am to 3pm)
• Teignbridge District Council, Forde Road Depot, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4AD (Wednesday – Friday, 10am to 4pm)

Please note, as staff and kits are not permanently located on all sites, booking a collection and drop-off appointment is essential.

A notice period of 7 working days is required for all bookings.

Click here to contact us to find out more and arrange getting hold of the kit.