Swap Omaha promotes fashion sustainability by trading ‘shop’ for ‘swap’

Three local fashion creatives have linked arms in combating fashion over-consumption. Their organization, Swap Omaha, utilizes an eco-friendly, circular model designed to give back to the community.

Last year, Sami Hartong looked to find other women in fashion who aligned with her sustainability mission. Through the art advocacy group, BFF Omaha, she met the owner of Scout Dry-Goods, Kelly Valentine-Newell, who floated the idea of an Earth Day clothing swap.

Scout had been working with Earth Day Omaha to do a swap the year before. However, due to COVID-19, those plans were canceled, said Valentine-Newell. Soon after, sustainability advocate Lauren Bates joined the crew, wanting to involve Green Omaha Coalition.

“One by one, we all found our way to each other for Earth Day. We wanted to use a swap format because it has succeeded in other major cities,” said Hartong.

Their first swap event at Elmwood Park was part of Omaha’s annual Earth Day celebration.

“We hoped that maybe 20 people would show up, and then it ended up being over 100,” said Valentine-Newell. “The lines were across the lawn over the sidewalk and into other vendor spaces.”

The turnout and curious spectators asking when the next swap is, turned the one-off event into a replicable model.

“The backbone of Swap Omaha is keeping clothing out of landfills and creating a circular economy through clothing and prioritizing accessibility,” said Bates.

In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency reported just under 2 million tons of landfilled textiles. In 2018, that number ballooned to 11 million tons.

“Reducing textile waste starts with reducing your consumption of fast fashion. To do that, we need to educate and normalize alternative ways to buy, sell and swap,” said Valentine-Newell.

Each event begins with a clothing drop-off, those who donate get first dibs and are entitled to one garment for each garment they’ve contributed.

After those who donated swap for new pieces, the unclaimed piles are open to the public for $1 each. A portion of the proceeds goes to local nonprofits.

Additionally, all un-swapped clothes go to charitable groups like Open Door Mission, Heart Ministry Center and other groups with “no-kill” policies, meaning all donations are re-homed and don’t end up in landfills.

“We don’t believe in shaming people into action. Instead, we believe in supporting, educating and giving people the tools to shop more ethically and sustainably,” said Bates. “That begins with access to sustainable alternatives.”

With organizations like Swap Omaha, a person can revamp their wardrobe for free and give unwanted pieces of clothing a new life.

“We want people to get in the mindset of ‘just because an item doesn’t serve me, it can still serve someone else’,” said Hartong.

Last year’s success increased their drive and confidence to refine and grow their organization.

“2023 will be our official relaunch,” said Hartong. “We want to become a nonprofit and impact the community even more.”

Their next swap event will be different than any they have had in the past. Swap Omaha is partnering with local nonprofit Film Streams and the Omaha Fashion Guild at 6 p.m. March 14 for the showing of “Made in Bangladesh.” The event will have a clothing swap and a panel discussing the film’s message.

“The film is based on a true story of a garment worker and her daily struggles in Dhaka, Bangladesh,” said Bates. “Dhaka is where the Rana Plaza collapse was. The tragedy and number of garment worker fatalities were very eye-opening.”

On April 24, 2013, a factory building collapsed, killing over 1,000 garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The tragedy, known as the “Rana Plaza disaster,” resulted from sub-par safety standards and a disregard for building codes in the fast fashion industry.