I am sure that everyone has heard of the book swap sites that exist in abundance on the Internet. The idea is that you can simply borrow and lend books instead of buying new. You save money doing this and you are reducing waste. I have also heard about moms that have started local clothing swaps and think the idea is wonderful. They get together will all the clothing they would usually toss or donate and they let other moms take any items they need, meanwhile you get to see if they have anything you need.

It is just a variation of Freecycling which I like much more than donating to charitable organizations that will turn around and charge people for the goods….plus you get something out of the deal to. Clothing swaps are a brilliant idea and so I was happy to find an online clothing swap called Swango. Their tag line is “Swapping As Easy as Shopping”. It works pretty much the same as other popular online swap sites, you upload things you have to give away and send them when requested. By sending your clothing to other people you accumulate credits to use toward the “purchase” of clothing you need. You also get credits (up to 10) just for uploading clothing too. You pay part of the shipping and a .99 cent fee to Swango and a portion of that fee is donated to charity. Even with the fees it is very reasonable…especially since I see a lot of Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Gymboree, and The Children’s Place.

Clothing swaps are awesome because:

1. You reduce post consumer waste and you recycle

2. You save money

3. You are not as likely to support cheap clothing sources like Wal-Mart where slave labor might be behind the scenes 

4. You are getting clothing that has already proven to be durable. 

[tags]clothing swap, book swap, Swango, recycle, consumer waste[/tags]