Swap with Do It Green! MN

By Eva Lewandowski

Recently, I was pulling together some data on the 2015 Do It Green! clothing and seed swaps, and I was amazed to see how much success we had this year! Combined, our two swaps had almost 200 people attend, and they brought over 900lbs of clothing! About half of that was swapped, meaning it went home with someone that day, and half was left over and donated to charity. Just thinking about reusing that many pieces of clothing and accessories instead of having them be thrown away puts a smile on my face. After Minnesota law was changed in May to legalize seed sharing, swaps through our Seed Library Project took off as well; we participated in over a dozen community events and sent out 10 starter kits to individuals and community groups who wanted to start their own seed library.

At my office holiday party, we have a swap of a different kind each year. We exchange gifts, but we have a rule that nothing can be bought; everything that’s given must be something that we already own. This makes for a fun, and sometimes very hilarious, gift exchange, with all of us cleaning out our homes of items that we no longer need but that might be perfect for someone else. (This year’s gifts include a meat tenderizer, a jigsaw puzzle, a Minnie Mouse cup that lights up, and lots of books!)

With all the success I’ve seen this year in swapping and exchanging items, rather than throwing things out or buying brand new goods, I’m happier than ever that Do It Green! Minnesota received a grant from the Hennepin County Green Partners Program to not only support our 2016 clothing swaps, but to also produce a guide to hosting swaps. This guide, which is now available on our website, provides tips and ideas for those who want to host their own swap, whether it be for seeds, clothes, toys, or anything else. Hosting a swap is easy, and it’s a great way to promote reuse. However, for some people the idea of coordinating any event can be daunting, so our swap guide is designed to help people through that process. Check it out here.

You can read more about the Do It Green! Seed Library here, and don’t miss our next Clothing and Seed Swap on Saturday, January 30th 2016.

 

Our Sponsors