Sweden's clothing swaps draw 140,000 as fast fashion waste mounts

Hundreds of people gathered across Sweden on Sunday for annual clothing swap events organized by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, part of a national initiative that drew 140,000 participants and redistributed more than 44,000 pre-owned items last year.

Fast fashion produces up to 10 percent of the world's carbon emissions, according to the U.N. Environment Program, making consumer-led secondhand exchanges an increasingly visible strategy for curbing textile waste at a time when the average Swede discards 9 to 10 kilograms of clothing per year.

The events allow participants to bring clothes and exchange them for pre-owned alternatives, with on-site tailors available to help shoppers repair items and extend their lifespan, the Korea Times reported.

"It's like, 'Oh, OK, it gets a new life with this person' ... It just feels a bit more humane," said Alva Palosaari Sundman, a 24-year-old art student, according to the Korea Times.

Producing a single pair of jeans requires roughly 2,000 gallons of water, according to the Korea Times. The average Swede buys 25 new clothing items per year, and researchers estimate that 90 percent of wardrobe items are never used, with clothing consumption accounting for roughly 3 percent of a Swede's total emissions.

Cecilia de Lacerda, a volunteer with the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, said systemic change in buying habits is overdue. "We have to be more careful and we have to think about our consumption," she said.

On-site repair services address a generational skills gap, according to volunteer Meg Goldmann. "A lot of people don't have sewing machines anymore, or they don't quite know how they should fix that buttonhole that broke," Goldmann said.

Alice Dundeberg, a 19-year-old high school student, pointed to the individuality of secondhand shopping as a draw. "You don't find multiple types of the same shoes, pants or sweater. No one has the same clothes as the others," Dundeberg said, according to the Korea Times.

Sweden banned discarding clothes in regular trash in 2025 as part of European Union recycling efforts. The national clothing swap program, which the Korea Times reported began in 2010, has since expanded to 140 events held annually across the country.