Clean It Out!, a thrifting event hosted by the University of Connecticut’s Student Union Board of Governors, took place on April 17 outside of the Homer Babbidge Library at 1 p.m. as a part of the organization’s sustainability week.
The event included the vendors Flight Girls, Urban Collection, Pass the Threads and Closet Lockdown. UConn’s new thrifting organization Thrift Den also took part and accepted any donated clothing.
The event was held in partnership with UConn’s Office of Sustainability. UConn’s “Food for the Pack” food truck was also at the event, along with a table set up by SUBOG that handed out plant kits and açaí bowls.
“What they pretty much did was help us with the tabling items, to make sure that we were reaching the attainability of, like, sustainability, in terms of UConn’s mission,” said Brianna McCalla, a sixth-semester student with an individualized major.
McCalla planned the entire Clean It Out! event, with her advisor Sarah Martin helping with details and purchasing. McCalla had planned a similar event last year for sustainability week: a farmer’s market featuring clothes vendors.
“We had about, I would like to say, three or four vendors last year,” McCalla said. “And I knew that coming into this year, I wanted to really expand.”
Urban Collection, Flight Girls and Closet Lockdown were at last year’s event, but McCalla made sure to invite newcomer Pass the Thread and the newly founded Thrift Den.
“[We’re] just making sure that we’re getting a good mix of, like, local Connecticut people, people who actually work outside of UConn, and students,” McCalla said. “That was a big part of, like, what I wanted to make sure to do.”
True to McCalla’s goals, not every organization at the event is based out of UConn. Urban Collection was founded at the University of Rhode Island (URI), with URI graduate Sebastian Batista and URI students Lucas Rocha and Brennan Miller running the table at UConn.
“UConn is just a great environment,” Batista said. “You guys have always showed us a lot of love for the past year that we’ve been here. So, we like to come by. The environment is good, the people are good, and it’s a great place to be.”
Batista noted that he saw thrifting as an important part of sustainability, especially with its ability to combat the fast fashion industry.
“My entire closet since I started this, I really saw the advantages of thrifting,” Batista said. “It keeps people with lower incomes to be able to get cool items, and you can also get items that are worth a lot more money. The thrift environment really brings people together.”
Thrift Den takes an alternate approach to the importance of thrifting. Based out of the Family Studies Building, the Thrift Den operates as a free clothing closet. Students can drop off clothes that they no longer want and can pick one free item from the Thrift Den every week to add to their own collection.
“I’m really excited about it,” Thrift Den co-founder Tina Ngo said. “I think that this is a great opportunity for students that don’t have the resources [to buy clothes]. And also, I feel like nowadays, thrifting has become more of a glamorized idea.”
Ngo is a sixth-semester student majoring in management and entrepreneurship. She added that she enjoyed seeing people find alternatives to fast fashion, and that anyone who wants to donate clothes can visit the Thrift Den and drop them off in their donation bin.
“It’s really awesome to see more people get awareness about us,” Ngo said. “And learn more about Thrift Den and just see the UConn community come together.”