Clothes swap at University of Alcalá

The Student’s Council of the University of Alcalá (CEUAH onwards), together with the Environmental Sciences and Criminalistics Student Delegation, has organized an activity with a sustainable approach: a clothes swap to promote environmental awareness and develop circular economy in the university environment. This proposal is in line with the 2030 Agenda, created by the UN, and the UAH Student Sustainability Plan, approved by the CEUAH. Besides, it is related to the project “Universitari@s Odsesionad@s”, launched by the University of Murcia, to create monthly actions based on different Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). For March and April, SDG 14 (“Life below water”) and 15 (“Life on land”) are addressed, respectively. It promotes a circular economy, giving clothes a second life.

The clothes swap was a spontaneous, open and participative action in the Enviromental Sciences Week. Indeed, the activity took place on Thursday afternoon, 24 April, coinciding with Earth Day. Any member of the university community, especially students, could bring clothes or accessories in good condition to swap them for others through a voucher system. There were two categories: one for main clothes (T-shirts, sweatshirts, trousers, etc.) and another for accessories (caps, scarves, etc.). Each category was differentiated with a specific voucher. Clothing could also be donated without exchange. Different members of the CEUAH and student volunteers organized the process: receipt, revision, classification and display of clothes. Once the activity ended, all the clothes not swapped were donated to Caritas. This organization of the Catholic Church provides humanitarian aid and social support to people in vulnerable situations around the word.  

Sofía Freire Sánchez, member of the student council in charge of SDG and sustainability, points out that "with this initiative, CEUAH reinforces, from the student representation, its commitment to a more conscious university environment, promoting sustainable habits and specific actions for the climate".

Sofía Freire Sánchez is an undergraduate student of Criminalistics: Sciences and Forensic Technologies, a degree of science knowledge area, at the UAH. She is a member of the Student Council of this University to focus on SDG and sustainability. Her awareness of environmental care started in her pre-university studies, as she participated in different initiatives and competitions on sustainability in high school.

Back