THERE ’ S NO SUCH THING AS FASHION TRASH
The Broadwalk has young visitors creatively closing the manufacturing loop
We ’ ve all heard this before : One person ’ s trash is another person ’ s treasure . At The Broadwalk ( Edgeware , UK ), children made precious outfits out of their own old clothes at Trash to Treasure upcycling workshops .
The month-long program , a highlight of the community center ’ s " Love Your World " environmental campaign , was held every Saturday from noon until 4 pm and gave young designers an atelier to chop up their old T-shirts to create new tops , patch up their pants with on-trend patterns and accessories , and jazz up their jammies with colorful accents .
“ Upcycling has become such a popular trend and it ’ s something that is naturally progressing in the fashion world ,” said center manager , Angela Brooks .
“ The workshops not only provide a wonderful activity for local families to get crafty during the school holidays , but also help support our efforts to continue to be an environmentally friendly shopping center .”
Another highlight from Trash to Treasure : The chance for participants to do something with the lonely socks they ’ re accumulated in their drawers . They brought them to The Broadwalk and made sock puppets out of them .
THE TACTICS TIP : We quite like The Broadwalk ’ s idea of turning single socks into sock puppets . The latter would make nice items for mall kids club members to craft and then sell to raise funds for a local children ’ s hospital or hospice before the holidays . A similar program could be developed as a way for shoppers to help teens in need get their hands on new-to-them fashions .
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