Students donated and took home used clothes, CDs, books, and other items during a thrift swap organized by the Sustainable Development and Climate Collective club.
Students dropped off items Nov. 18-21, and were able to take home anything they wanted for free during lunch blocks Nov. 22, 25, and 26.
Sustainable Develop and Climate Collective club members, seniors Ella Chen, Merra Parekh, Cailtin Riodan, Findlay Toone, and freshman Linnea Dun Rappaport, organized the Thrift Swap alongside Spanish teacher Denise Cremine, the club’s faculty adviser.
“It’s a sustainable way of not just getting rid of things that you don’t use anymore. We’re repurposing them, and allowing somebody else to find a purpose for them,” said Parekh. “A lot of students really like thrifting, so it’s a cool way for old clothes to not be useless anymore, they can still be repurposed, and maybe it got some students into the idea of thrifting.”
The event was popular across the school, with four tables filled with items at the start and two nearly empty at the end.
“I walked by it and thought it was a really cool idea. I like volunteering at clothing places and I think it’s a really good way to get clothing that’s new for people that don’t necessarily have the time or money to get clothing from other places,” said sophomore Ali McPherson
According to Cremin, the event’s goal was mainly for students to change their consumption habits. Throwing away unwanted clothing is a big contributor to landfills, and the organizers wanted to teach people that it’s good practice to give away those unwanted items instead, Cremin added.
According to Chen, the club donated clothes that weren’t taken during the thrift swap to Cradles to Crayons and Helpsy bins.
The organizers planned for this event to also be a fundraiser for the Green Team’s composting project, added Cremin.
“We were trying to get any monetary donations for food composting in the cafeteria, which is what we want to get started this year, too,” said Cremin. “So that students have to put their food into a food compost bin in the cafeteria.”
Even though they didn’t get much funding this time, they plan on creating more fundraisers in the future and another Thrift Swap in the spring, according to Cremin.
