Members of Sustainable Orillia’s Youth Council (SOYC) will be hosting a Student Clothing Exchange, at all three local high schools.
There’s a great deal of organization and coordination required to pull events like this together and members of the Youth Council from Twin Lakes (TLSS), Orillia Secondary (OSS) and Patrick Fogarty (PF) have all stepped up to ensure that necessary donations, venues and communications will be in place.
Donations are welcome at anytime and the organizing committee will rely heavily on public address announcements in each school to remind students to check out the exchange in their schools. It’s also an opportunity to reinforce why repurposing gently used clothing is not only fun, but also an important step in keeping textile items out of landfill for a few more months, or maybe years.
Events like these all help, particularly as research* recently confirmed that Canadians send over 500 million kilograms of fabric material to landfill every year! Slowing down the rate and the amount of worn clothing we throw out each year will help; as current estimates suggest that on average 85% of our still-wearable clothing ends up in landfill. Yikes!
Kudos to the Youth Council and its members for their ongoing efforts on behalf of greater sustainability right here in the Orillia region. This is one of many Youth Council initiatives that while providing our younger cohort with opportunities to learn and use new skills, also sets an example of what we can all do to create a more sustainable future – after all, more than for most – it is their future!
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Breaking news: as noted elsewhere in this newsletter – we are proud to confirm that Sustainable Orillia’s Youth Council has been nominated for an Orillia Matters’ Community Builders Award – in the Young Leader category. The Community Builders’ Awards celebrate the remarkable contributions of outstanding individuals and organizations in Orillia in the realm of health care, economic development, arts and culture, sports and recreation, volunteerism and more.
*University of Waterloo & Seneca College (2023)
