by Charlotte Peterson
People treat clothes the same way they treat the environment. When clothing is first purchased, it is loved and delicately looked after. But when some time passes, it gets neglected and oftentimes trashed. I have started an on-campus program at Righetti High School in Santa Maria to help reduce this textile impact on the environment and to get other students involved on the exponentially occurring issue.
The Righetti T.H.R.I.F.T. (Teens Helping Reduce Impact From Textiles) Club was created to provide students an easy and free way to get rid of clothing that no longer suits them, and to also receive clothing they may want and/or need. By doing this, students on the Righetti campus are able to shop sustainably and reduce their impact on the Earth (even if they are not aware) simply by avoiding throwing away their unwanted clothes and passing them onto somebody who may benefit from owning them.
The program functions as a clothing swap. People wanting to receive clothes from the club bring in their own clothing that no longer suits them: it’s called a “give one, get one” system, and it provides the students with a completely free form of sustainable shopping.
Though still in its infancy, the T.H.R.I.F.T. program has not only helped improve the environment, but also the lives of multiple students. My first goal for the program was to collect as many donated homecoming dresses as possible to provide students with free dresses to wear at the upcoming dance. Not only were these donations a major success, but so was the distribution outcome: 75% of the donated dresses were cleared off of the rack during our first swap. This allowed many girls at Righetti to receive a free homecoming dress in an eco-friendly manner! Pictured below are two students at Righetti who were not planning to go to homecoming because they did not have dresses, and now they were able to attend! Since my homecoming initiative, I also helped restore the wardrobe of a student who lost their clothes in a house fire by donating clothes from the program.
The steps I’ve taken for this program have been slow and steady, yet much more is still to come. In the near future, I plan to have the Warrior T.H.R.I.F.T. Club host events such as clothing drives, informational presentations, Earth Day activities, and more! As each day passes, the future for both the club and our planet gets brighter. I cannot wait to see how else the club is able to fulfill my passion of helping heal the environment.