– Something I want to do is find out how you can look at the value of goods without thinking exclusively about money. That’s what 21-year-old William Ingvaldsen says. He is one of the founders behind “Green Dawn”, a store in Bergen for clothing exchange, redesign and thrift stores. They have developed a system for changing clothes through a new, green “currency” which they call green karma. The aim is to get a greater circulation of cloth and prevent cloth and other goods from ending up in the bin. – We want to create a change in attitude. You can hand in clothes you haven’t used, rather than throw them away and, in addition, get something back for it, says the young entrepreneur. A similar initiative with the exchange of clothes can be found at Sandane, where Evageline Sassford runs the second-hand shop Upscale. Evangeline Sassford believes in clothes swapping as one of the solutions to the disposable clothing industry. Photo: Sunniva Skurtveit / news In March, “The Great Clothes Swap Day” was organized across the country. The two thrift stores in Western Norway are still few of their kind that operate year-round clothing swaps. Transition to a circular economy Sigurd Vildåsen believes that a larger initiative is needed to solve the climate challenges linked to the clothing industry. Photo: SINTEF Senior researcher at SINTEF, Sigurd Sagen Vildåsen, is positive about an initiative where people hand in old clothes to buy new used clothes. Nevertheless, he sees a potential challenge: – It may happen that people then want to buy much more clothes than they actually need. In order to overcome the use-and-throw culture, the researcher believes that a larger or government-regulated initiative is needed. The two shop owners believe that the small initiatives will nevertheless reduce consumption and could be the start of a change for consumers, the climate and the economy. – To be able to switch to a circular economy and to be able to adapt, we have to think about resources in this way. You hand in a product you don’t use and get something back that you can use on other second-hand goods, says the entrepreneur in Bergen. He believes that the green currency and changing clothes can give consumers the opportunity they need for such a change. – We provide these incentives that consumers need to have a desire, and take the opportunity to think about used goods in a completely different way, says Ingvaldsen. Subscription for clothes exchange It is through a subscription solution that customers can hand in old clothes that they can exchange for other used clothes. Via the green “currency”, a value assessment is made so that customers can shop for the same value they delivered in their second-hand clothes. At the Green Dawn store in Bergen, you can use your clothes as a means of payment. Photo: Private – When you bring your clothes, such as a sweater, they can be categorized with 50 green karma. You get this currency in your account and can again be used to buy other second-hand garments in the store. In this way, the 21-year-old wants to make recycling accessible to everyone, regardless of finances and life situation. The end of wear-and-throw fashion At the same time as the shop owners believe that changing clothes can be the start of a circulation of clothes and finances, Sassford believes that it will also be the end of wear-and-throw fashion. Wear-and-throw fashion Wear-and-throw fashion involves the rapid production of clothing where trends go out of fashion and clothing is potentially thrown away as a consequence of this. One can also call the phenomenon fast fashion. In a report on the clothing industry from the trade organization of the UN (UNCTAD), it appears, among other things, that: Every second a truckload of clothing is burned or thrown away. 500,000 tonnes of microfibre, equivalent to 3 million barrels of oil, are towed into the sea every year from the production of cloth. The industry accounts for 8 percent of the global emissions of greenhouse gases, and each year uses more than 93 billion liters of water in production. 20 percent of all waste water comes from the fashion industry. World clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014. 87 percent of the fibers used for clothing end up being burned or end up in a landfill. Source: news/NTB/abcnyheter.no/aftensposten.no/m. etc. Through clothing subscriptions, she believes that people can test out new trends without constantly buying (and throwing away) lots of new clothes. – You can try out new trends without spending a lot of money on it. If you find that it’s not for you, you can just replace it and you won’t harm the environment by throwing it away either.
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Clothes exchange with used clothes as a means of payment – news Vestland
