Vision

The club members of Team 17 from Ecole River Heights School were inspired to make a difference when they participated in two conferences earlier this year. They took part in Learning for Sustainable Future’s (LSF) climate action conference as well as Manitoba Council for International Cooperation’s (MCIC) Conference on “Fast Fashion”. They learned the impacts of the fashion industry on the climate as well as social and other environmental impacts. They were encouraged to do something about it and for the first time in our school’s history, we held a clothing swap for our students and community members.

Action

As Team 17 had never done a clothing swap before, it was a learning experience for everyone. We weren’t sure if there would be a great response and we were pleased and surprised. Prior to the swap, team members went to every class in the school to talk about the impacts of Fast Fashion, what a swap is, and to explain about Climate Change’s connection to this project to all of our 434 students and over 30 staff members. We had many donations, an incredible amount of students attend after school, and we had also invited community members including 2 of our local elementary feeder schools which several families did come into our school for the first time! We had families from students who don’t even attend our school join us in our swap. We calculated that we shared over 10 extra large garbage bags full of gently used clothing and accessories which we equated to more than 110 kg! We did have some remaining material after the swap and we arranged for a local not-for-profit agency who is opening a thrift store this spring to come and collect the remainder of the materials. The store’s mission is to use the profit specifically for programs and events that benefit our community–for example, assisting agencies in providing free clothing and supplies to people who need them.
We wanted to share this action as well so we piggybacked on another event that Team 17 was working on connected to microplastics in the water. We shared some information about the clothing swap, fast fashion and climate change in our visits to six elementary schools, 13 classes and over 325 grade 5 and 6 students.

Reflection & Celebration

The members of Team 17 were so pleased with the results and plan on making this an annual event!
They are so proud of making a difference in their community and educating their peers at our school as well as younger students.

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