2021, Cincinnati, OH, USA
From the beginning, Stefanie and Caitlin knew the harmful effects of fast fashion on
the Millcreek watershed were what they wanted to address. From clothing waste in landfills,
dyes polluting our waterways, and water waste, this is a very important issue to tackle. Their
initial plan was to put on a “Community Thrifting Event.” They had planned on going to
collect clothes, repair old ones, rent out space, and hold an in-person event. However, Covid
numbers in their area just weren’t low enough where they felt comfortable putting on this
event.
Instead of putting on one event for people to thrift, they decided to focus on teaching people the importance of thrifting continuously. They presented a video to six science classes in our school, as well as sharing it with their local community through youtube. They also created a Kahoot to quiz the classes after the video, fostering a class discussion around the effects of fast fashion and thrifting. The winners of the kahoot each won a reusable tote bag to hopefully take with them on their future thrifting endeavors!
They also created a thrifting guide, for secondhand spots in the Cincinnati area, with information regarding prices and available items. Using a QR code, we passed out these thrifting guides in the form of a business card, making it an accessible and easy
way to get into thrifting.