Why Swap?

"There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness." - Gandhi

Five reasons to attend Swap-O-Rama-Rama Missoula:

1. Fun!

Help your friends pick out something new to them, then repurpose it at one of our sewing stations. Turn a t-shirt into a cardigan or a pair of jeans into a hip new skirt - the possibilities are endless, as boundless as your creativity. When you're done, show off your new duds at the photo booth.

2. Prevent Textile Waste

In an endless search for the latest style and fashion, Americans consume enormous amounts of resources, despite the surplus of clothing that exists. Textile waste in the United States amounts to about 4.7 percent of created residential waste each year. Textile recycling saves about 2.5 billion pounds of textiles from landfills each year, but 8.75 billion pounds of textile waste enters landfills each year - that's about 37 pounds for each person in the U.S.! Fifty percent of the textiles consumed and discarded are made from synthetic fibers that are produced from oil.

3. Take Control of Your Fashion!

The cycle of continually looking for the next big thing every season is perpetuated by the fashion industry. Through advertising, we're asked to view shopping as a creative endeavor, when really only the designers play a creative role in the process. The consumers' creativity is simply in the selection. Find your own creativity at Swap-O-Rama-Rama! Reinvent an item of clothing and be a creator yourself!

4. Contribute to Charity

Help our your community! Leftover adult clothing will be donated to the Poverello Center. Leftover kids clothing will be donated to the Salvation Army. All profits will be donated to the Zootown Arts Community Center, Missoula's Do-It-Yourself Art Center.

5. Help Create a Sustainable Community

Swap-O-Rama-Rama is about creating something new and exciting from what already exists, finding inspiration in yourself and your community, and building skills that lead to self-reliance and sustainability.