ReWear Ballina: Creating a Circular Clothing Community

Items must meet the below guidelines. There is a quality screening process for swapping drop offs.

What to bring

• Clothing and accessories for all genders and sizes: pants, skirts, tops, jumpers, coats, jumpsuits, shirts, shoes, bags, shorts, jackets, blazers, scarves, hats, dresses, sunglasses, jewellery
• Good quality items with a long potential lifespan
• Clean, folded or pressed items
• Items likely to be valued by others – ask yourself, would I be happy to give this item to a friend?
• Items should be free of faults or with minor faults that are easy to repair (for example, a missing button).

What NOT to bring

• Underwear, socks and swimwear
• Sportswear, activewear and tracksuits
• Anything stained, torn or unclean
• Noticeably worn out, shabby, pilling or frayed items
• Broken items

This workshop will run alongside the clothes swap party and will be an opportunity to drop in and:

• Get inspiration and support to try mending an item of clothing yourself
• Get support from our expert mender to help mend an item or 2 (on a first come, first served basis)
• Enjoy spending time mending with others

All items left at the end of the swap will be donated to various charity partners.

Avoid: Shop your own wardrobe first. If you really want something, take a week to think about it and see if you still want it.

Reduce: Keep your unwanted items out of landfill by giving them away, selling or donating.

• Give items to friends or family (ask first) or organise a clothes swap with friends, colleagues or neighbours.
• Try selling unwanted items on Facebook marketplace or other local buy/swap/sell groups, on eBay, Depop, or others.
• If you plan to donate, only donate clean, good quality items you would proudly give to a friend. Bring them into an op shop during donating hours only or look at Givit to match your donation to someone in need. See our responsible donating guide here.

Repair / repurpose: Give old items new life by repairing, upcycling or repurposing.

• Local repairers or alterations services can easily be found online if you don’t know how to repair items yourself. The Northern Rivers Reuse and Repair Trail is a good place to start. 
• Fabric scraps can be repurposed into cleaning cloths/rags, gift wrap or other craft ideas.

Recycle: If you cannot rehome or repurpose clothing and textiles, there are recycling options you may consider.

• Upparel  offers a legitimate paid textile recycling service.
• Tread Lightly recycles sports shoes – try Intersport or SportsPower Ballina, check online for additional locations and for specifics about what can be recycled.
• Linens and towels can be recycled at Sheridan stores (free service).
• Some companies accept trade-ins of their own brand items, including Patagonia and Macpac.

• The average Aussie buys 55 items of new clothing each year. A garment is only worn an average of 7 times before being thrown away or donated
• Over 200,000 tonnes of clothing is landfilled each year in Australia (nearly 4x the weight of the Sydney Harbour Bridge). In 2024, 880 million items of clothing were landfilled.
• After food and garden waste, textiles are the most common items in domestic landfill bins across Ballina
• The textiles sector is responsible for 8-10% of yearly global greenhouse gas emissions (more than aviation and shipping combined)
• 60% of all clothing made from plastics (synthetic fibres and blends like polyester, nylon, etc), which shed microplastics every time they are worn or washed
• Washing synthetic clothing accounts for 35% of all microplastics in the ocean, making them the largest source of microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans
• Buying a T-shirt and pair of jeans secondhand could save the equivalent of 20,000 standard bottles of water

• Shop second hand and Australian made wherever possible.
• Learn to read labels and look out for natural fibres, not made of plastics.
  • Fabrics to look out for:
    • 100% cotton
    • Linen
    • Hemp
    • Bamboo
    • Wool
    • 100% recycled fabrics
  • Fabrics to avoid:
    • Polyester
    • Nylon
    • Acrylic
    • Spandex/lycra
    • Recycled PET
    • Acetate
    • Elastane
• Check the Ethical Fashion Guide for ethical businesses.