Online Clothes Swap & Helping Bees

The Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 88 - Online Clothes Swap & Help for Bees

An online clothes swap? What a great idea!

That's what I thought when I first heard about SilkRoll, an online fashion-sharing community that aims to bring sustainability to the fashion industry.

In this podcast, I interview Janet Wu and Erin Wold, the founders of SilkRoll. (But please stay tuned after the interview for an important tip from our resident local wildlife expert, Dr. Adrian Cooper, on how to help our endangered bee populations.)

Matching Resources to Needs

Years ago, when the Internet was much younger, I learned about a website that matched book lovers with each other for the purpose of swapping books. Once you joined the site, all you had to do was post what books you had available for swapping. The site matched you up with people who were interested in your books and even provided a way to download the postage you needed to send the books out to others.

I was blown away with how this simple site, dedicated to matching resources to needs, sidestepped so many issues and allowed me to build a small library of used classics at a fraction of what I would have paid for new books. I also really appreciated the ability to share my unwanted books with others who would enjoy them, instead of adding them to the landfill.

Since that time, lots of websites dedicate to swapping have emerged, with varying degrees of success.

Established in 2015 and still going strong, SilkRoll appears to be making it work.

A Familiar Story

I found the story of how Janet and Erin met and decided to start SilkRoll reminiscent of how Marianne and I met and decided to start The Sustainable Living Podcast together. Like us, these two sustainability-oriented fashionistas found they had a lot in common, including a desire to make a positive impact on the world around them.

Though I don't have a ton of high-quality clothing to swap, the opportunity to exchange things I don't wear for quality pieces that would suit me better, is too good to pass up. I plan to give SilkRoll a try. I'll let you know how it works out.

Another way you can have a positive impact on the world is to provide assistance to endangered bee populations.

Dr. Adrian Cooper offers guidance on plants you can include in your garden to help sustain the local bees. For more from Dr. Adrian on how you can help to sustain and grow wildlife in your neck of the woods, you may wish to check out my interview, below.