Swap Shop by Melissa Lima Amaro
The Interact club was created by Ms. Melanie Anderson to help students be more hands on and giving them opportunities to interact with one another and socialize. Interact club decided to host their third swap shop with the help of Ms. Anderson hoping to get more people involved since last time they didn’t advertise enough so there weren’t many people. Isla Quinter(9) who was a member of interact club and also went to the swap shop with Charlie Morrissette said,”I absolutely think this was one of the better swap shops, especially the end of the year one last year, because I feel like we didn’t advertise that other one enough so not a lot of people showed up”, but while it was a good year Morissette said,” I wished it was more organized by size, besides that I really enjoyed the swap shop ”The interact club has shown a great example of how a club can really make a difference in the world, all those clothes that would've otherwise gone to thrifting shops where is would be overpriced and families not able to afford or it would've ended up in landfills and added to pollution. “I really enjoyed the swap shop and I got a sparkly blue dress and a pink cheetah shirt. And I think we should do the swap shop again”, Quinter said.
This event supported responsible consumption by promoting the reuse and recycling of clothes and other items, reducing waste. “I love that we could help the environment and get cute clothes“, Sudiksha Nanda(10) who attended the swap shop said. A lot of students enjoyed going to the swap shop because even though some clothes were used they were still wearable and many found things they really liked. “I got a new Hollister pants and shirts that I ended up really loving them, but i’m also glad to help the environment” Nanda said. By supporting responsible consumption not only can we save our pockets but also our planet.
The way this event positively affects the environment incredible! 11 million tons of clothes from the United States end up in landfills and up to now 15% of clothes get recycled in the U.S. The clothes didn’t want could've easily ended up in second hand shops in which 84% ended up in landfills. The interact club has helped many students to learn to be more sustainable, as Quinter said,”I wasn’t in interact club last year but I’m happy to be this year and help in the swap shop”. Many people lack the knowledge on how recycling helps the environment as well as the word doesn’t have barely enough recycling facilities to help the amount of waste many produce every year. The Swap is just the first step and many clubs are helping with the environment.
Caption:
RECYCLING. Charlie Morrissette(9) comes to the swap shop chooses a shirt out of the donations stacks and sees if she likes it. Last Friday, on January 16th Ms.Melanie Anderson helped the Interact club host a Swap Shop. The Swap Shop helped students donate clothes they didn’t like as well as pick something they would prefer using a ticket system. This helped clothes not get thrown out end up in landfills. Darla Sheckler(9), who went to the swap shop with Morrissette said, “I wish clothes were more organized, but I really enjoyed it”. Photo by Aadhya Patel.