We of Cork Zero Waste love organising swap events, we’ve held numerous clothes and plant swaps as well as board game, jewellery and art swaps! But really you can swap anything. And you don’t need to wait for us to host the next one – you can organise one with your neighbours, your friends or your colleagues!

Why swap?

Many people have items in their home that they no longer use, wear or like. But this doesn’t mean they should end up in the bin. Instead you can bring them to a swap so they find a new home and maybe gain some new-to-you items too. This contributes to a circular economy, a model of consumption ensuring existing materials and products remain in use as long as possible. In short, a swap is a great way to clear out and update your home/wardrobe without using any new resources, creating any waste or spending any money!

What you might need

• A few items of your own to start off the swap
• Tickets (old playing cards are perfect)
• Table to display swap items
• Labels and pens/markers (eg for plants)
• Rails and hangers for clothes, if available

Here’s how we do it:

• Decide beforehand what you’ll accept (do you want to swap accessories as well as clothes?) 
• Have conditions for what you’ll accept eg no tears, stains, poor quality items etc and check each item donated as it’s brought in. 
• Advertise all the conditions in the event so people know beforehand!
• Give people tickets for the amount of items they bring so you know how many items they can take
• Consider having a max number of items and don’t accept more than these as you’ll only be left with extra at the end
• You probably will have items left over as people might bring five items but only take three – a good way to reduce this is to announce that anything left at the end of the swap is free to a good home, whether you brought something to swap or not!

Happy swapping!

By Aisling Kett