Note: This article has been edited to reflect corrections we have received from OwlSwap. We apologize for any inconvenience that has come from the original printing.
The OwlSwap Sustainability Initiative began as a class project in a 2018 Geography of Clothing course taught by Professor Dr. Jason Rhodes, and it has become one of the most active sustainability programs at Kennesaw State.
Founded in 2019, the initiative banded together with other campus organizations like EcoOwls to reach a broader audience in educating as many people interested in fashionable environmentalism as possible. As Student Assistant of OwlSwap Jaden Keys describes, the goal is to expand and get more tools to help students.
Leaders of the group put on events such as their film and panel series to spread awareness about the impact fast fashion has on the environment. These events also spread awareness about how many garments are sent to landfills or developing nations where they clog sewage systems and are burned.
They also host Mending Mondays where interested parties can learn how to sew their own buttons back onto their clothes, hem pants that run tall and make sure their pieces last longer.
Their largest event is one that acts as a vast garment exchange among all of KSU called Clothing Swap. Those who give their old or unwanted items in the Clothing Swap receive tickets, which can be traded in for others’ donated clothes.
Most recently, OwlSwap has been working closely with apparel and textile design students in the School of Art and Design. These students have been given excess textiles with old KSU logos donated from OwlSwap’s Campus Clothing Closet. The various textiles range from banners and flags to tee shirts and outerwear. Students have been working to turn them into dresses, shorts, tops and more. They are learning that fashion does not need to be another sector of overconsumption and can rather be a cycle of keeping items out of the trash.
Outside of the ongoing project, students have also been given access to textiles from Ecologie Resale and Vintage. This shop is a local buying, selling and trading consignment store that has been able to provide the students with items by donating selected items to OwlSwap’s closet.
Textiles from the OwlSwap’s closet are also sent to an upcycling nonprofit called Re:Loom that takes donations and turns them into handbags, keychains, face masks, bracelets and even yoga mats. The sale of these items at the campus bookstore help provide housing for homeless individuals and families in metro Atlanta. This nonprofit employs many immigrants and impoverished people to help them gain a good standing while contributing to the wonderful cause of sustainability in the fashion industry.
In addition, OwlSwap’s closet collects donations year-round in case of emergencies so that members can swoop in and provide to those in need.
Within the two years OwlSwap has been in operation it has managed to create a lasting impact on KSU’s students in how they view free tee shirts, broken buttons and fashionable sustainability.
