The Mitchell Youth Council is taking action against the impact of climate change and has fast fashion in its sights.
The Clothes Swap Project is an initiative of the Youth Council to promote sustainable fashion purchases and educate people about the negative environmental impacts of "fast fashion".
The term "fast fashion" refers to cheaply produced and priced clothing that is fast-tracked to stores. The practice encourages people to buy cheap new clothes to keep up with the latest trends, but they come at a high cost ethically and environmentally.
Australians send 85 per cent of the textiles we buy to landfill each year. We're the second largest consumer of new textiles after the United States of America, with one person on average buying 27kg of clothing each year.
To help combat this trend, the Youth Council will host a clothes swap at the Wallan Multi-Purpose Community Centre on Saturday 15 May. Drop off points will be set up across the Shire leading up to the event.
People are encouraged to swap clean, undamaged items of clothing they no longer wear, need or want using a token system at the event. There will also be sewing workshops to encourage up-cycling - taking unwanted clothes that would otherwise be thrown away and reinventing them.
The Clothes Swap Project is possible thanks to a $9,185 grant from the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning as part of the Community Mini-grant program.
This project was funded by the Community Mini-grant Program, a part of Climate Ready Hume, a Victorian Government initiative, aiming to support positive climate change activities and action.
