DENVER — Students at Asbury Elementary School in Denver have put sustainability into action through a clothing swap that not only supports their community but also promotes environmental awareness.
Each Thursday, The Green Eagles, a student organization focused on sustainability, meets to discuss how they can contribute to their school and the environment. Second-grade teacher Nicole Johnsen, one of the teachers helping with The Green Eagles, saw how the event started with empathy.
“A student thought, 'there are kids in this community who really need some things,'” Johnsen said. “How can we use the things we already have to support our community?”
The idea for the clothing swap was born. Families would donate clothing that their children either stopped wearing or had grown out of, and then were encouraged to browse through the selection of items that other families had brought in. Children grow quickly, and coming across free clothing is a huge help to any budget.
“I feel overjoyed that we're going to help our environment while also getting new stuff and just being a part of our community,” fifth grader Lucille Moutrie Culp, one of the founding members of The Green Eagles, said. “I just love helping our community and the planet.”
About 60% of the clothing at the swap was donated by families of students at the elementary school. The other clothes were donated by Common Threads on Pearl Street and Once Upon a Child in Littleton. Waste management company Ridwell is accepting any clothes with holes, tears, or stains and recycling them.
“Teaching sustainability is so important because helping out your community is amazing, and this is the world they're going to live in,” Johnsen said. “If they're protecting their environment and their world now, they're going to have a better place to be and a better place to live.”
The event prevented 310 pounds of clothing from ending up in a landfill. Any clothes that aren’t picked up will be donated to Clothes to Kids of Denver, an organization who gives clothing to children in need.
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