In April 2025, Split hosted three successful swap fairs: the Clothing Swap Fair marking Fashion Revolution Day, the Kitchenware Swap Fair held during the festival Sustainability is my vibe, and Sunce’s regular Swap Fair. During these events, citizens had the opportunity to exchange items free of charge, from clothing to kitchenware, while also learning about the importance of the waste reduction principle.
Once again, we demonstrated that the local community can be a strong driver of sustainable change. In a world flooded with things, a swap fair is a simple but highly effective solution for reducing waste and fostering togetherness.
Clothing Swap Fair
The Clothing Swap Fair was held on April 23 at Klub Zona. The fair was organized to mark Fashion Revolution Day, the international day of action against fast fashion, which aims to promote transparency and socially responsible practices in the fashion industry. The emphasis was placed on textile waste, one of the biggest polluters in today’s society. This international movement emerged after the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013, when a garment factory in Dhaka collapsed, killing 1,133 and injuring another 2,500 workers. It was the deadliest disaster in the history of the garment industry. This year’s Fashion Revolution Day theme, “Think Globally, Act Locally”, sought to encourage citizens to rethink their habits and start asking the question: “Who made my clothes and shoes?”
Visitors brought good-quality clothing or shoes they no longer wore to exchange for other items. For each item of clothing or pair of shoes, they received a voucher to be used for the swap. Each voucher contained interesting facts about the harmful impact of the fashion industry, which also served as conversation starters among visitors.
The venue was filled with educational posters containing various information about textiles and recycling. For example, did you know that according to the latest estimates from the European Commission, less than 1% of clothing worldwide is recycled? Around 12% is downcycled, while as much as 87% of textile waste ends up in landfills or incineration.
The fair was further enriched with a workshop on clothing repair and repurposing, led by a Sunce volunteer with sewing experience, who also runs workshops under the initiative ŠIZIKA – Sewing, Patches and Creative Activities. There was also a presentation on making beeswax wraps, natural, eco-friendly and biodegradable sheets that replace plastic and aluminum foil. With proper care, they can be used for up to a year, after which they only need to be “refreshed” with a new layer of wax. Instructions on how to make beeswax wraps can be found on our social media.
Kitchenware Swap Fair
The Kitchenware Swap Fair was held on April 25 as part of the first Sustainability Is My Vibe festival. The theme of this fair was sustainable cooking and promoting a zero-waste approach to food preparation.
Visitors could bring and exchange kitchen utensils, reusable containers, cutlery and other useful items, and also participate in numerous other sustainable activities. Local chefs prepared meals based on zero-waste cooking principles, showing how leftovers can be turned into tasty and nutritious dishes.
Just like at the Clothing Swap Fair, visitors used vouchers for the exchange. Each voucher contained interesting facts about waste reduction, proper food storage and meal planning. For example, are you aware that around 57 million tonnes of food are wasted each year in the EU, which is about 127 kg per person? In Croatia, more than 286,000 tonnes of food are thrown away annually, most of it in households. By using reusable containers and smart meal planning, it is possible to significantly reduce waste and save money.
Sustainability as a common goal
Both fairs were very well received by citizens. They provided an opportunity for exchange and saving, while also opening space for reflection on important issues such as overconsumption, unnecessary waste generation and climate change.
The fairs and the sustainability festival also involved volunteers from France (Charlotte, Léane, Nicolas and Léo), who chose Sunce as their host organization as part of their Foreign Challenge project. They financed their stay through various activities in France: selling cakes, clothes and books, and organizing tournaments and raffles.
They had company from European Solidarity Corps volunteers: Martina and Sanja from North Macedonia and Jeanne from France. Although they come from different professional backgrounds, these volunteers are united by a passion for sustainability and a desire for positive change. They will spend a year at Sunce working on the Solidarity for Green Dalmatia 2024 project, funded by the European Union.
What resonated most among participants was the sense of togetherness – proof that small changes, when made collectively, can have a big impact.
In addition to these two themed fairs, in April we also held one regular Swap Fair, which Sunce organizes on the first Tuesday of every month. The next ones will take place on June 3 and July 1 from 6 to 8 PM at Klub Zona, with a summer break in August.
We take this opportunity to remind you of the swap rules: each participant can bring up to five well-preserved items (clothing, books, dishes, toys, etc.), and for each item they receive one voucher. Vouchers serve as the currency of exchange. For each voucher, one item from the offer can be taken. Vouchers do not have to be used immediately – they can be saved and used at one of the following fairs. The types of items we accept can be found in the visuals below.
Join us on the first Tuesday of the month at the Swap Fair, or organize your own with friends or family, and together let’s kick-start the circular economy!
