Sweden's secondhand clothing swaps offer trendy way to cut environmental waste

STOCKHOLM — Alva Palosaari Sundman scoured the racks of secondhand clothes in Stockholm for hours in search of the right pair of pre-owned jeans. The 24-year-old art student was among hundreds of people attending an annual clothing swap on Sunday at a community center in Sweden's capital. They exchanged their own clothes to “shop” for others. Similar events drew thousands across the country to reduce the environmental cost of clothing production. Palosaari Sundman said she enjoyed seeing others pick out the clothes she’d brought. “It’s like, ‘Oh, OK, it gets a new life with this person,’” she said. “It just feels a bit more humane.” The U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) cites fast fashion as major player in environmental damage, producing up to 10 percent of the world’s carbon emissions. Discarded clothes gorge landfills that scar landscapes in developing countries, and the plastic fibers used to make cheap fabrics pollute oceans. To produce a pair of jeans, for example, roughly 2,000 gallons (7,571 liters) of water is required, UNEP has said. Sweden's clothing swap i

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