To relieve student stress heading into finals week, Arkansas State University’s Environmental Club hosted their third annual Clothing Swap. The event aims to promote sustainable fashion by encouraging students to donate clothes in exchange for new ones.

“Even though there’s places around town like thrift stores and things like that, it may not be accessible for all students here. So we’re really trying to put our best foot forward and try and make every Red Wolf go a little bit green,” said Katy Willis, a senior psychology major from Blue Springs, Missouri, who also serves as president of the Environmental Club.

In previous years, the Clothing Swap has been held on Study Day. However, it was changed to the week before finals to bring in more traction, as well as encourage mental wellbeing. 

“It’s a really good mental health booster to get new items or at least to go shop around. We’re already so drained and that’s why we like to do this at the very end of the semester, because a lot of people really need that exciting event or serotonin boost to get them through finals season,” Willis said. 

Hosted in the Mockingbird Room from 3-7 p.m. last Wednesday, the event brought in 25 students within the first thirty minutes. In the past, they’ve typically seen 50-100 students.

In order to shop, students could either pay $5, or get items for free if they provided clothing to donate. Thrifters were given a tote bag where they could put in as many clothes as they wanted.

Erin Bird, a first-year psychology major from Pine Bluff, said she found lots of good items at the swap and it acted as a nice study break.

“I can make a lot of good outfits. (This event helped me) relax and destress about classes. Right now I can come here, buy some clothes and go back to studying,” Bird said.

The Environmental Club collects donations for the Clothing Swap throughout the year. At least half of the remaining items are donated to women’s or homeless shelters, but some of them are saved for future swaps. The event also saw lots of donations the day of.

“There have been morning-of donation pickups that I’ve done for faculty members and I’ll run to  different buildings around campus with a car and pick up trash bags of donations from faculty members,” said Rose Farmer, a junior marketing major from Truman and vice president of the Environmental Club. 

Farmer and Willis said in addition to acting as a stress reliever, the Clothing Swap also acted as a great way for students to get clothes needed for professional opportunities.

“We do have a lot of business attire and nice dresses and things like that, as well as khakis and men’s button ups that come through here. So (it’s great) students who need that for internships or interviews or their career past graduation,” Farmer said.

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