You can get a new sustainable wardrobe for $5 at this Toronto clothing swap

It’s spring cleaning season, but instead of just tossing away or donating old clothes and buying new ones, there’s a more sustainable option. A monthly clothing swap in Toronto allows attendees to bring their own items and swap them for something new-to-you โ€” meaning you get to clear out your closet responsibly, you get new clothes that you love for the cost of a small donation and you’ll be helping to keep clothes out of the landfill!

As sustainable fashion has become more of a priority for gen Z, thrifting and second-hand shopping has grown in popularity. But there’s also been a push towards the idea of a circular economy that emphasizes eliminating waste, sharing, repairing and reusing โ€” and it’s something that Lisa Amerongen is trying to promote throughย T.O. The Good Swap.

“Two years ago, I was kind of facing down the barrel of the climate crisis and wondering how I could do more than just my personal carbon footprint to help,” she says. “I was learning at the time about the ethical implications of the fashion industry, and Iย realized that I could do a swap at a larger scale, which might help decrease the amount of textile waste in Toronto and also just give people an opportunity to explore swapping instead of shopping.”

Amerongen says there are two main outcomes from swapping โ€” you start to consider it an alternative to swapping, which reduces demand so that suppliers aren’t creating as much; and you’re giving your clothes a new life instead of keeping it at the back of your closet or contributing to textile waste.

Since founding the swap in 2022, the event has grown in popularity, with monthly swaps often selling out (the swap asks for a $5 donation but attendees must reserve their spot in advance). The rules are simple: bring up to 10 preloved items, shop the items at the swap and bring home anything you’d like, though attendees are asked to take an amount similar to what they brought.

@t.o.thegoodswap/Instagram

Items left over from swaps will be brought to the next one, unless you choose to take back your unswapped items.

Amerongen says that T.O. The Good Swap has helped combat the often “destructive” mentality in the fashion industry of always needing to buy more.

“I and a lot of people grew up thinking โ€” and I am not a famous person โ€” that I needed to have a new outfit every time I saw my friends,” she says.

In a world where it’s become the norm to buy entire new outfits to go on vacation and being an outfit-repeater is a faux-pas, gen Z in particular has been socialized to think buying into micro-trends and replacing sometimes entire wardrobes every couple of years is the norm. Amerongen says a clothing swap can be the “first step” for those in that mindset to understand there are other ways to approach consumption.

“For those who are feeling the need to buy new clothes, they’re getting that need met. And then hopefully, they’re starting to have conversations, read more about the consumer and environmental impact. It’s honestly just breaking free of some of those stereotypes around fashion and consumption.”

Over time, Amerongen says she’s personally seen the impact of the swap on attendees’ shopping habits. “Because we have a monthly swap, it is very accessible to people, so I’ve noticed a change for myself and my volunteers and for frequent attendees. You can scratch that terrible, materialistic consumption-driven itch more often, so it stops mattering,” she says. “You don’t get as excited โ€” you might think, ‘Oh, there’s a dress I need,’ but then you remember โ€” next month, there will probably be another dress I like. The monthly access actually decreases that weird push that we have.”

Clothing swaps may be the new frontier of sustainable fashion โ€” arguably a step further than thrifting or donating. As the T.O. The Good Swap website notes, only 10-20 per cent of items donated to charity shops end up on the store floor โ€” most clothing donated in North America ends up in the global south, where local communities and environments are severely negatively impacted.

“You know how people say every phone case you’ve ever owned still exists? Every piece of clothing you’ve ever owned is somewhere. Hopefully it’s being worn, but probably it’s just in the garbage,” Amerongen says.

The nextย Good Swap is happening on April 13.

Article exclusive to STREETS OF TORONTO