Barry Clothes Swap

LOVE NOT LANDFILL

Who else wonders ‘where did my money go?’ only to look in the wardrobe and find brand new clothes with the tags still on waiting to be worn.

According to WRAP the value of unused clothing hanging up in our wardrobes is around £30 billion and we’re sending £140 million worth of clothing to landfill each year.

But it’s not just the cost to us, it’s the cost to the environment too. When you’re finding a bargain in Primark or raiding the sale at Topshop it’s easy to forget the carbon, water and waste footprint all of these clothes are leaving on the world.

Before you load up the car with your unwanted things, why not see if anyone else can make use of them? They might not be perfect to you but they could be perfect for someone else.

So is there a way of reducing this? There are lots of campaigns out there for not buying new, or if you do then buy well, but what can we do on a more local level? Here’s a few ideas.

CHARITY SHOPS We have a huge number of charity shops on our doorstep in Barry and there’s lots of bargains to be had! City Hospice on Holton Road regularly has massive sales where you can pick up jumpers for £1 and coats for as little as £2. We’ve also got 3 great charity shops on the High Street where there’s plenty of quality items and some great homeware too.

CLOTHES SWAP There’s been a few clothes swaps popping up around Cardiff so we thought, why not bring one to Barry? On 1st April we’re holding a Barry Clothes Swap at Sky Spa on Barry High Street. Bring along 3 quality items that you no longer want and swap them for a whole new wardrobe! They’ll also be stalls

and taster treatments at Sky Spa and it’s a chance to meet some new people who happen to love clothes as much as you do.

FACEBOOK GROUPS Before you load up the car with your unwanted things, why not see if anyone else can make use of them? They might not be perfect to you but they could be perfect for someone else. There are lots of Facebook groups for swapping items for free, just search Barry Reuse Project or Barry Freebies to have a look.

TOO GOOD TO GO Another great app which doesn’t seem to be getting much action in Barry is Too Good To Go. People and businesses can share food and other items they no longer want which might be close or past their sell by date but still fine to eat. The more people that use the app the better it is!