Trash to Treasure: Making Sustainable Fashion Free

localthe slipstream
Written By Eden Shamy

The overconsumption and production of clothes have grown out of control. Students can cut back on fast fashion by donating clothes, buying from small businesses and thrifting. Unfortunately, the reality isn’t always that simple.

84% of all donated clothing ends up in landfills or incinerated. Despite their awareness of fast fashion’s harmful nature, college students like Marena Gallo are still attracted to fast fashion brands like Shein for their cheap and trendy options. 

Trash to Treasure (T2T) hosted its first-ever clothing swap in collaboration with the University Fashion Group in Mary E. Gearing Hall Feb. 8. Students explored the tables of textiles, searching for the perfect items to swap with their own used clothes. In the wash of diverse options, Gallo found a silky, purple dress she was excited to take home.

“At the end of the day, I have to be smart about where I’m shopping money-wise,” University junior Gallo said. “I do get a lot of my going-out outfits from Shein.”

Items labeled as high-quality or sustainable from local independent businesses or designers don’t always fit within a student’s budget. However, this isn’t to say a solution doesn’t exist. T2T and University Fashion Group (UFG) are finding new ways to make fashion both sustainable and affordable.

Her friend, fellow junior Marysa Barela, described the clothing swap as a great alternative to Goodwill or consignment stores for students.

“They don’t have to worry about going off-campus or finding somewhere to take their clothes,” Barela said. “You can bring whatever you want and you can just trade it. Also, you don’t have to pay for it. That’s the best part!”

While UFG has done clothing swaps before, this is a first for Trash to Treasure. Typically, T2T has thrift sales where everything is a dollar. However, thrift sales last semester were so successful, they cleared out their massive inventory,  6,000 pounds of clothes. As a result, UFG Officer and T2T Co-Lead Lauren Smith brought the organizations together to host a clothing swap instead of their usual thrift sale.

“I love doing our thrift sales and it’s providing affordable clothing at $1 a piece, but this is even more accessible,” Smith, a UT textiles and apparel senior, said.

Smith is also in the process of obtaining an environment and sustainability certificate hoping to someday work with sustainable fashion in a larger capacity. 

“Due to overproduction and overconsumption, a lot of the clothes end up only being worn a few times and thrown away,” Smith said. She also said fast fashion brands sometimes steal their designs from small independent brands and young designers

Unfortunately for T2T, both Smith and her co-lead Kate Weidner are seniors graduating this semester. They are currently looking for new co-leads to help steer the organization. According to Smith, the role can be transformative.

“I used to take a lot of stuff if I thought it was cute or special,” Smith said. “I’ve stopped needing to consume so much just because. If I don’t get any use out of it, I just give it back to our inventory.”

Similarly, Weidner said an important part of her T2T experience was getting away from overconsumption — thinking about what she already has and how she can add to it.

For Smith, it’s really important that people get involved. While thrift sales and clothing swaps provide convenient, affordable and sustainable clothing options for students, she added they also build a sense of community. Getting involved, sharing and trading with each other create a positive outlook on others and on the environment.

“Finding stuff like this where I can take clutter out of my own closet and come get new stuff to work into my wardrobe is fun,” Gallo said. “They’re gonna keep doing that until us, the consumers, change our buying habits.”

Smith and Weidner will give a presentation March 7 going in-depth on tossed out textiles, who sorts through them and how that impacts the planet. T2T will also have a $1 thrift sale March 8 in collaboration with Buffalo Exchange. As always, they will have their move-out donation drive at the end of the semester. 

Photos by Cheney Stephenson
Eden Shamy
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