Fight fast fashion

Clothes swaps

Unwearables

Fight fast fashion, unwearables and clothes swaps

Fight Fast Fashion

How to stay stylish... and sustainable.

What you can do with your current wardrobe

Declutter

If you have clothes that are in good condition, don't throw them away - sell or donate them.

Reuse

Ever been swishing?

It's a public clothes swap event that is fun and free where you can swap unloved items from your wardrobe for those others have brought along.

Revive old treasures

Love your clothes, so they last longer.
When doing the laundry, use a wash filter to catch the harmful microplastics before they go into the water system.

Buy smarter

Consider a "capsule wardrobe".

That's a collection of a few essential items that don't go out of fashion.

Get your staples in a fit and colour that suit you, then add a few seasonal pieces to change the look.

Go natural, get quality

Search for natural fibre

Avoid synthetic fabrics - materials such as polyester, rayon, nylon and acrylic shed microplastics everytime they're washed
Reduce your clothing footprint by choosing natural fabrics like wool, sustainable cotton or bamboo
Shop during the sales so you can more easily afford better quality items which will last longer.

Charity shops

Find your local charity shop – pass on old stuff and find the next bargain to spark joy in your world!

charity shop 4752x3168

Second-hand first

Buying second-hand

It's much cheaper
Helps the environment – the most carbon intensive part of the life cycle of clothes is in its production
Buy online at Ebay, Depop or Etsy – you'll be amazed by all the classic vintage pieces
Hold a clothing event like a clothes swapping party.

Clothes swaps

Enjoy swapping, not shopping.

Why do it?

The facts about clothing

Swap Rules

We accept a maximum of ten items per person in adult sizes only.
Items not accepted: bad quality items (dirty, ripped, torn, stained, broken zips, etc) jewellery, underwear, nightwear, swimwear or babies and children’s clothes.
Bring your own reusable bags to take items home – carrier bags will not be provided.
We cannot guarantee sizes/categories of clothing at each event, it is all dependant on what people bring on the day.
Please arrive early to avoid disappointment, i.e. first come, first served – we do not hold stock back.
We cannot provide credits or return items if you do not find an equal number of items to take home as the number you brought to the swap.
Any leftover items at the end of the swap will be saved for future events or donated to a local charity.

Any items remaining by the end will be donated to a charity shop.

This event is for good quality clothing only. Find out what to do if your clothing is unwearable.

What is a clothes swap?

Like shopping, but free!

Clothes swapping is a fun, easy way to de-clutter and update your wardrobe. It's guilt-free shopping with no cost to you or the environment. Simply exchange your unwanted items for a fresh look.

Taking part is simple – during the drop off time bring along up to 10 unwanted, adult-sized, good quality clothes and earn one token per item.

During the swap time exchange your tokens for items which are new-to-you.

Second-hand doesn't mean second best!

Unwearables - recycling unwanted textiles

Did you know that many textiles can be recycled? Get tips on what you can do with them.

Recycling clothes

Most of your worn out and unwanted old textiles can be recycled into something completely brand new - things like blankets, car seats and padding for chairs.

Please don't throw clothes in your household rubbish bin, they're a BIG problem - the facts about clothes.

Textile bring banks in car parks and recycling centres will accept usable or damaged clothes, towels and bedsheets.

Make sure they're clean, dry and odour-free
Put them in a bag and label any bags of damaged textiles, to help us sort them.

Find your nearest textile recycling

If they're in good condition, you could pass them on for reuse instead.

Tip: You could have a designated recycling bag at home to start storing your old and unwanted clothes, ready for your next visit.

Love Your Clothes so they last longer

The ‘Love Your Clothes’ campaign is bursting with handy tips to help you love your clothes, so they can last longer.

Know your care labels - Are you confused by the symbols on care labels? Don’t worry you’re not alone - almost 70% of the clothes we throw away could have been prevented by better care habits. Get to know your care labels - it'll prevent dye running and clothes shrinking in the wash.
Line drying and washing at 30 will reduce the carbon footprint of your clothes and help them last longer.
Make do and mend - Button fallen off? Broken zip? It’s amazing what you can teach yourself. Check out these helpful mending tutorials from Love Your Clothes.
Revamp your existing clothes by embellishing, altering and combining them in new ways. You don’t need to be sewing savvy to revamp your wardrobe - check out how you can get creative with your clothes.

Why reduce, reuse and recycle your clothes? Here are the facts...

30% of what's in our wardrobes hasn't been worn for over a year.

Every year, Hertfordshire residents throw over
7000 tonnes of textiles into their rubbish bins, when they could have been reused, repaired or recycled.

Clothes in landfill release methane, a harmful greenhouse gas.

Textiles production is also the world’s second largest industrial polluter after oil.

The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. This means the clothes that we buy are contributing to climate change more than air and sea travel combined.

In the UK, we buy more clothes than any other country in Europe.

The trend of ‘fast fashion’ has resulted in more than half of items bought being thrown away in less than a year.

Around £140 million worth of clothes goes in our general waste bins in the UK every year – that’s around 350,000 tonnes!

We're encouraging our staff and residents to give their clothes as much life as possible and ensure they're not sent to landfill or incinerated.