City of Swan residents and staff have saved more than 100kg of clothing from ending up in landfill.
With an estimated 6000kg of textiles and clothing dumped in Australian landfill every ten minutes, making sure our clothing is being rehomed or recycled is crucial.
This year as part of the Thinking Green series the City has held Clothes Swap events in partnership with the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) to encourage residents to sustainably dispose of their old clothes, while providing them with the opportunity to refresh their own wardrobe for free.
Held in Ellenbrook, Midland and Bullsbrook, and with upcoming swaps in Ballajura and Guildford, these events allow participants to bring as many or as few items as they like and in return take as many or as few items as they like.
Henley Brook resident Diane Ritchie attended the Ellenbrook session and said she thoroughly enjoyed it.
“It has made me look at my clothing more critically. When I see cheap clothing, and I’m tempted to make a purchase, I remind myself that I’ve got plenty of clothes in my wardrobe,” she said.
The Ellenbrook clothes swap resulted in 44.5kg of clothing finding a new home, the Midland session saw 36.5kg of clothing upcycled and Bullsbrook 38kg.
Clothes that don’t find a new home during the workshop are collected by the EMRC and taken to the next event.
City of Swan Deputy Mayor Mel Congerton said the workshops had achieved a fantastic result.
“I encourage our community to attend the next great workshop in Guildford this month,” he said.
“You can bring all types of clothes, so long as they’re clean and in a mostly good condition.”
City staff are also undertaking efforts to reduce their own waste by rehoming and recycling old uniforms.
