Budget-conscious Stoke Newington fashionistas picked up a whole new wardrobe and managed to save the environment at the same time at a swishing party - and hope the idea could take the borough by storm.
Ellie Rowles invited friends and colleagues to her home in Rendlesham Road to swap their unwanted clothes, shoes and accessories, enabling them to bag a whole new wardrobe without spending any money.
Ellie followed a new free guidebook from the North London Waste Authority (NLWA), which wants people to rethink their attitude towards unwanted clothing.
An estimated 350,000 tonnes of used clothing goes to landfill every year, producing harmful greenhouse gases when it rots down with the rest of the rubbish.
It is better if clothes go to a new home, say through a charity donation, or are recycled - rather than dumped in the bin.
“Most of us picked up some ‘new’ clothes and we all had a lot of fun,” said Ellie.
“It gave us the perfect opportunity to invite our new neighbours over, and get some of our friends and colleagues together.”
Figures show the average north London household owns around �4,000 worth of clothes – but a third of clothing in the average wardrobe has not been worn for at least a year.
To download NLWA’s swishing party pack see www.nlwa.gov.uk/swishing.
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