We all know the importance of recycling our paper, plastics and aluminum, but what about our cottons, denims and woolens? Unwanted clothing can easily avoid the landfill if you donate it or, better yet, swap it out for something new. Milwaukee's Swap-O-Rama-Rama this Saturday is a great way to ditch the unwearables and take home a few free gems.
Swap-O-Rama-Rama is an international community-based clothing swap and series of D.I.Y. workshops, started by New York artist Wendy Tremayne in 2005 as an alternative to consumerism.
A bag of used clothes and a $5 cover gets you access to thousands of new-to-you pieces brought by other people and artistic experts ready to help you alter or completely transform them to suit your style.
It's like the thrift store gone wild.
"This is an effort in recycling," says Swee Sim, owner of socially responsible store Future Green and event organizer. "We are big into being sustainable and we really encourage things like this."
Twice a year -- late spring and fall -- Sim hosts the swap. Last year's event, he says, was a fun-filled success drawing a large crowd, and he anticipates an even better turn out this Saturday. Because of its growth, Swap-O-Rama-Rama has moved from the Future Green backyard to Milwaukee Sewing Machines 7226 W. Greenfield Ave.
Professional seamstresses will be on hand for the workshops, which include screen printing, embroidery, knitting, stamping, fashion design and alterations. Each swap ends with a fashion show to showcase the new works.
"Swap-O-Rama-Rama inspires people to take an active role in creating fashion. By recycling, and re-styling clothing, you are doing something important -- reducing landfill waste but also making an item your own," says Sim. "Buying a manufactured item off a mannequin -- that's making a consumer choice. Taking half an hour to alter and silkscreen a T-shirt -- that's true personal style."
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For the next one, Sim hopes to have a street permit for Bay View and get more community artists involved. When it's over, the leftover scrap material and un-swapped items are donated to Habitat for Humanity and The Salvation Army. All money raised benefits the non-profit New York Foundation for the Arts, which financially supports Swap-O-Rama-Rama.
Sim says this is just the beginning for Milwaukee and vows to support innovative recycling efforts. "As long as I can do it, I will."
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
