Sustainable shopping: fashion-forward with a conscience
The Sustainable Fashion Community Center in East Harlem is reinforcing the importance of shopping sustainably while giving back to the local community.
The community center is home to the New York City Fair Trade Coalition, a non-profit that advocates for a more sustainable fashion industry. Their goal is to help ensure the community knows about sustainability and about fair trade.
Andrea Reyes, executive director at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center said “we are looking at sustainability in a really holistic way.”
As part of their commitment, community members can donate clothing items, shoes and accessories that will either go directly to the community center’s thrift store, or into their textile recycling bins.
When items are dropped off, they are weighed and donors are informed of their environmental impact. Thrift shoppers and participants in the swapping process, also find out how they are helping the environment.
“It is important for neighbors to understand that they can have an impact to begin with, whether it is dropping off clothing or picking up items,” Reyes said.
The center also offers mutual aid work. They get donations from safe space – a group led by Mariposa Benítez, a licensed clinical social worker, who provides migrants access to free clothing through donations. Benítez also donates to the community center, assisting Reyes and her team to further their mission in advocating for sustainable fashion.
“We are grateful that she is able to take in stuff because we do care about the environment, we do care about the community also,” Benítez said.
The center says they are not only getting something free, but also an educational experience learning about their mission and the environmental impact.
Drexlar Attram, a fellow at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center said, “if for people, if it may not serve just an educational need, it’s serving a physical need which I think is super important as well.”
The center re-enforces this through community involvement and supporting marginalized groups. They partnered with a local school in Harlem providing migrant families with free clothes.
Davaughnia is an Arts and Culture reporter for City Newsroom in New York City. She has experience in news, feature and magazine writing, as well as audio and video journalism.