The small steps matter. We need to rethink and re-evaluate our roles, not only as consumers but as citizens, to understand that how we consume might have a bigger reflection of our identity than what we consume.
We can play a transformative role in a much bigger system through what goods we purchase and how. We can make sure that what we consume is circulated back into the system. Clothes swaps are mechanisms to circulate – and then recirculate – clothing. They are the first steps for many into a world of sufficiency and sustainability.

Clothes swapping serves as a powerful vehicle to raise awareness of the patterns of unsustainable production and consumption. Credit: Monica Olsson/SSNC.
Children today live in a tension created by a constant influx of ‘influencer content’ and the ever-increasing risks posed by climate change. They must navigate the need to fit in and to take on the responsibility for the environment that has been unfulfilled by previous generations.
Clothes swapping has the potential to reduce the consumption of new clothes, but it also serves as a powerful vehicle to raise awareness of the patterns of unsustainable production and consumption in a creative and fun way. By shifting the perception of unwanted clothes from ‘trash’ to something with value for someone else, clothes swapping events are an entry point to new consumption behaviours. And since the goal is to use, not to own, these events open up a world of possibilities in challenging norms around satisfaction, ownership and consumption.