North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has partnered with London Waste and Recycling Board’s (LWARB’s) eco-fashion campaign Love Not Landfill to launch Stop & Swap, described as “a unique series of online clothes swap events and Instagram Live talks designed to divert unwanted textiles from disposal.”
The online swapping events are aimed at supporting residents to take effective action on textile waste – even in the face of COVID-19 restrictions.
Chair of NLWA, Cllr Clyde Loakes, said that “even though the pandemic is creating great challenges, we cannot afford to lose momentum on tackling the climate emergency.”
“We have had great results with previous textile reuse and recycling campaigns but too much clothing is still ‘thrown away’ when it is no longer wanted. With traditional clothes swaps currently not possible, teaming up with Love Not Landfill has allowed us to create a fresh, online experience for young Londoners, enabling them to update their wardrobes for free, whilst helping the planet – and staying safe. This is a real first for London”
Hannah Carter, Campaign Manager at #LoveNotLandfill, said: “We’re delighted to be able to team up with NLWA to extend the reach of clothes swapping across north London. Stop & Swap puts the issue of clothes and climate change into perspective and offers young north Londoners an easy solution that also gets them ‘free’ clothes. What’s not to love?”
Participants will be able to exchange good quality items they no longer want for pieces either donated by fellow residents or from the Love Not Landfill collection of high quality, preloved clothes. To add interest, the influencers and fashion journalists will also be donating pieces to each of the nine swaps.
With £30 billion worth of unworn clothes in the UK’s wardrobes and research showing that extending the life of clothes by nine months reduces their impact on the environment by 25%, clothes swaps have been gaining in popularity amongst young fashion lovers – in fact, 75% of 16-24s recently polled for Mintel said they have swapped or would swap clothes.
The programme of nine events will take place between 11 November 2020 and 10 February 2021. A group of influencers, journalists and activists* in sustainable fashion will host Instagram Live interviews, workshops and discussions to kick off each event at 6pm, to be followed at 6.30 by two-hour clothes swaps on ‘Nuw’, a sustainable clothes sharing and swapping app.
How it works
Event registration is at www.nlwa.gov.uk/stop-and-swap. Those with a north London postcode will be invited to sign up to the clothes swap app Nuw free for 33 days, where they will be invited to upload the fashion items they would like to swap. Once swaps are confirmed, a bookings conversation opens between both parties and they arrange a contact-free exchange.
Promotion and updates will take place at @connectNLWA @LoveNotLandfill @wearenuw.
