City shares a sustainable wardrobe

THE second giant youth-led clothes swap is coming to the Mining Exchange next week.

Our Shared Wardrobe will run from 11am to 3pm on Tuesday, 6 July facilitated by young volunteers like Eloise Amirtharajah, who said the experience is designed to promote sustainability and is like op-shopping.

“If you bring five pieces of clothes you get five buttons that can be used as currency to shop for five other items within the area,” she said.

“It’s not only financially accessible, but an environmentally conscious way of shopping. We have so much space in the Mining Exchange, so we’ll have pieces hung up and on tables.

If you are participating, you can drop off washed clothes in good condition without animal hair between 9am and 10am, so volunteers can set up displays before they open at 11am, and you return.

“A good rule of thumb is, would you be happy taking home the item you’re bringing? If not, it’s probably not right for the swap, but you can still bring it along for fabric recycling,” Eloise said.

Fellow youth volunteer Karissa Cribbes said attendees can check out a fabric forest installation about textile waste, and enjoy workshops while they’re there.

“We’ve got screen-printing, mending and upcycling sessions throughout the day, and some weaving later in the week in line with NAIDOC week,” she said.

“It’s a good opportunity to support local young people.”

Book your place at bit.ly/3crkvll. Our Shared Wardrobe is part of Youth Week and the Ballarat Winter Festival.