Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap
Boy am I sorry I didn’t see this sooner! I was posting a comment on the Baltimore Sun this morning and to the right saw and ad for the Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap. I had never even heard of this, but I was immediately excited. Woohoo, someone is organizing clothing swaps in my very own city! I love clothing swaps because you can shop for free and reducing your carbon footprint by reusing the clothes that someone else no longer wants. I love to swap out my closet at least twice a year and since I discovered clothing swaps I don’t have to feel bad about it anymore; It’s glorious. I clicked on the link and noted that they were having a swap this Saturday, May 1 from 10am – 6pm in Mt. Vernon. I’ll be out of town on Saturday celebrating my Dad’s birthday, so unfortunately I’ll have to miss this one. The good news? They are traveling all over the city (and have been since early April) through the middle of May. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for the next swap so that I can spruce up my wardrobe for Spring. The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap has it’s own website here where it says:
Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap:
Style & Sustainability Through Common Threads
April 18 – May 17, 2010All ages, genders and sizes are welcome to participate in a new kind of shopping experience that benefits the environment and the Baltimore community. Donate, trade or take clothing and accessories in an exciting, outdoor, store-like, money-free exchange. (Even if you do not donate, you may take up to three items!) The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap will travel to a variety of locations throughout Baltimore city for one month.
The swap is free and open to the general public.
Their mission is simple, “The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap’s mission is to raise awareness about recycling, focused on secondhand clothing and accessories, through an exciting and free service that benefits the environment and brings together the Baltimore community.” There are two very important differences from the little clothing swaps that I attend (usually put on by friends at my local bar/restaurant The Parkside):
1. You can only bring Ten (10) items to donate
2. You have to tag your items
Still, choosing only ten preloved items to donate may be the hardest part and if shopping for free means that you have to fill out some little paper tags I think it’s worth it.
Here are the remaining events; see you there!
Saturday, May 1
Mount Vernon Park, North Square
699 North Charles St
Baltimore, Maryland
10 am – 6 pm
JUST ADDED:
Sunday, May 2
Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar
Underneath the Jones Falls Expressway at Holliday & Saratoga streets
7 am – noon
Sunday, May 9
Patterson Park (specific address not yet determined)
10 am – 6 pm
Friday, May 14 – Monday, May 17
Maryland Institute College of Art, Mount Royal Station, Frost Plaza
1300 Mount Royal Ave
Baltimore, Maryland 21217
Fri: 11 am – 8 pm
Sat-Mon: 11 am – 5 pm
The Coming Water Crisis
While listening to NPR on my way back to Baltimore yesterday I listened to a very interesting story about the coming Water Crisis. Essentially the guest speaker, Steven Solomon, was discussing how global water usage is increasing at a leve that cannot be sustained. In fact, some of the hardest hit regions who will be facing water shortages soon are areas in which terrorism has taken, or is beginning to take hold. The global consumption of our limited water resources may even spark the next major conflict. You can read the article on NPR here and listen to the broadcast for more information, “Will the Next War be Fought Over Water?“.
Immediately after hearing this story I was reminded of an article I read while back on Treehugger, where it lists the amount of water needed to produce a single new tshirt or pair of jeans. Fortunately I found that article here, “How Many Gallons of Water Does It Take to Make…”
Here are the facts straight from the article:
Pair of Jeans
It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular ol’ blue jeans. [2]
Cotton T-Shirt
Not as bad as jeans, it still takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.
Now, if you think that just because you make your own clothes by knitting, crocheting, or buying fabric in the store that you are helping to reduce your water consumption, just look at what the article says about your raw materials:
One Pound of . . .
Wool: 101 gallons of water
Cotton: 101 gallons
In short, one great way to avoid consuming more than your fair share of water and starting on the slippery slope that will lead to famine, death, terrorism, and finally war is to stop buying new clothes! There are thousands of vintage stores, second hand and thrift shops available where you can purchase used, or as I like to call them, previously loved clothing. There are so many great resources online that can show you how to sew, refashion, and remake clothes, If you prefer to knit, but can’t find a sweater that you really like, buy a used one and recycle the yarn. If you can’t bear to take up sewing or knitting, but still want to do your part, but don’t want to dig through thrift stores, then buy online. Online sellers like Etsy have tons of shops selling recycled couture, so you can still look good and do your part to slow the damage to our Earth. I’ll include more links below to help you do additional research on the size of the issue at hand as well as places to purchase used clothes and links to groups of folks who have pledged not to buy any new clothes to help reduce their footprint on the Earth.
The Water Crisis:
The Coming Crisis: Water, Not Oil
Failing Wheat Crop Causes Afghan Food Crisis
Obscured By War, Water Crisis Looms In Yemen
We Use How Much Water? Scary Water Fooprints, Country by Country
Groups Embracing the Stop Shopping or Nused Clothing Movement to Recycle, Upcycle or Refashion Clothing:
The Great American Apparel Diet
Great Places to Shop for Refashioned, Recycled, Vintage Clothing:
So, maybe you can make one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2010 to stop buying new clothes? So go on, get shopping, just make sure it’s been previously loved. Maybe you can even check off two resolutions, by using all of the money you will save not buying new clothes to pay off debt…not a sermon, just a thought 
Summer Swap Announcement: 06.14.09 5pm @ The Parkside
I have good news everyone! Our friends at The Parkside located in NorthEast Baltimore City, MD at 4709 Harford Rd. Baltimore, MD 21214, have offered to host our upcoming summer clothing swap. The swap will be in full swing by 5pm and will run through 9pm. Please bring at least one bag of clothing (feel free to bring more) and accessories and then swap them out for something new. We will have demonstrations on how to refashion/recycle clothing that you love. Please bring only items that you can wear on your body (jewelry, bags, clothes, shoes, etc). This swap is open to men, women, and children and the more folks we have the better selection of clothing we’ll have to choose from, so bring a bag of clothes and a few friends to enjoy a glass of wine, or a tasty beverage, dish, and do some free shopping on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 at The Parkside.
If you would like to volunteer to help sort clothing or provide racks/hangers please contact me.
*Unfortuanately due to issues at recent events, if you are unable to bring clothing to the swap a donation of $5 will be required for entrance to the swap. However, as long as you have at least one article of clothing to swap your admission will still be free.
