UA Wear and Share: A Case Study on how to Engage Students in Sharing their Unused Clothing

Abstract

The way in which clothing, the second largest consumer sector, is produced and consumed poses a variety of environmental threats. A huge driver of unsustainable clothing production is the fast fashion industry where clothing styles are produced, consumed and disposed of at alarmingly quick rates. This type of clothing production is supported by societies need for new and trendy clothing. A demographic affected by this false need of new clothing are college aged students, thus college campuses and universities make have huge potential to be a part of a solution. In recent years the sharing economy has become a popular form of trade. Large-scale campus clothing swaps may be a method through which the environmental footprint of students’ livelihoods can be reduced.