Fashionistas across Doncaster are being urged "don’t shop, swap”

Around £140 million worth of used, but still wearable clothing, goes to landfill in the UK every year – that’s around 350,000 tonnes.

An estimated £30 billion worth of clothes that have never been worn are hanging in wardrobes across the UK.

Waste experts at the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham (BDR) waste partnership and Renewi have put together a clothes swap shop kit which is available for groups to hire if they want to stage their own swaps.

That good news for people’s pocket and it is great for the planet too as it helps reduce the amount of clothes being wasted.

Abi Reid is Community Education Liaison Officer based at Manvers, the award-winning waste treatment facility which diverts 97 per cent of Barnsley, Doncaster, and Rotherham household waste from landfill.

“A clothes swap shop is a great way to get a new outfit and pass on your unwanted items to a new home. It can be done with anyone - friends, family, members of a group or even your local community,” said Abi.

“Clothes we buy not only impact our wallet but also our environment. Large amounts of raw materials, resources and energy go into making our clothes and this is wasted when the clothes are discarded. To put it into perspective, it takes around 1,800 gallons of fresh water to make a single pair of jeans.

“To help people organise their own clothes swaps we have equipment available to hire for the event including clothing rails and hangers.”

What can you swap?

You can theme your swap to anything you like including:

 School uniform

 Baby clothes

 Formal wear

 Christmas jumpers and party outfits

 Or even just normal everyday clothes!

If you are a group, organisation or individual based in Barnsley, Doncaster or Rotherham, who wants to host their own swap shop and hire the equipment visit the Wasteless South Yorkshire website: www.wasteless-sy.co.uk/news-blogs/clothes-swap-shop/

You can also find out useful information about clothes swaps on the Love Your Clothes website at www.loveyourclothes.org.uk

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Dominic Brown, editor.