Set up a clothing loop

Introduce the assignment: We’re creating a Clothing Loop: a fun, sustainable way to share and reuse clothes instead of throwing them away! The bag of clothes will travel around our class, with each student adding items they don’t wear anymore and taking ones they’d like to reuse.

Prepare the clothing loop bag by selecting a sturdy big bag. Divide students in three groups: rules, decoration and logging.

Some students decorate the bag.

Others make a simple log sheet:

• Student names in order
• Date received/returned
• Short space for notes (“Added 2 shirts, took 1 sweater”)

The others lay out the ground rules:

• Who can join? (Only our class or siblings too?)
• What types of clothes? (Everyday clothes, shoes, accessories?)
• How often does the bag move? (Once a week, every few days?)
• Who will keep track of where the bag goes next?

Start the loop, and explain it to the students:

1. The first student takes the bag home and fills it with a few clean, wearable items they no longer use.
   
2. They bring it back to school within the agreed time.
   
3. The next person takes the bag home, chooses what they’d like, adds some of their own clothes, and brings it back. If necessary, make agreements on amounts of clothing to add and take from the bag.
4. Repeat until every student has had the bag: that’s one full loop!

Everyone should make sure clothes are clean, folded, and in good condition.

The clothing loop monitor (student role) checks that the bag moves on schedule and that items are appropriate. The teacher makes sure that the process of moving the bag from one student to another runs smoothly.

When the bag finishes a full loop, check which items stayed in the bag the entire time. Those items go into the class donation box for the next charity drop-off.

Reflect with the students using the Talking Stick method

• What worked well?
• How can we make the next loop smoother?
• How did sharing clothes help reduce waste?