By Julie Siwicki
Burnett hosted a month-long clothing swap in her garage this spring.
East Atlanta resident Brittney Burnett followed three simple steps (maybe a few more) to host a clothing swap out of her garage this past spring: Pick a date. Recruit donations and volunteers. Invite neighbors to your driveway to browse, find new-to-them clothes, and connect.
She collected donations in February, sorted them with volunteers over one weekend, and invited shoppers over the course of a month.
She runs two swaps annually. If you missed it this spring, mark your calendars for September to participate next time. Stay informed and get involved by searching on Facebook for your neighborhood Buy Nothing group, or by exploring buynothingproject.org.
Burnett’s East Atlanta clothes swaps started in 2021 as a one-day affair then grew to one week. This past March’s month-long event was the biggest one yet. She dreams of finding a permanent local space to house the exchange and growing them to include masculine-style clothes.
Her motivation to run swaps draws on a desire to “live in a high-trust society where people step up and put in the work to build community.” Her vision is “a world where neighbors can rely on each other when they’re in need… to show how much we can provide for each other when we’re organized.” Community-building is evident in Burnett’s stories of shoppers discovering what they have in common based on the type of shoes they love and “trauma-bonding over low-rise jeans.” She says she receives regular Facebook messages from neighbors who’ve gotten compliments on or worn out to a special event their swap-shopped items.
In addition, Burnett shares that she has a “passion for keeping things out of landfills.” She explains, “If you look up how much clothing there is on the planet, it’ll make you sick. There’s just no need to buy clothes if you can help it.”
These swaps build on a wider set of neighborhood efforts promoting a gift economy in East Atlanta. For example, Burnett’s resume includes volunteering with a community fridge formerly at Moreland and Ormewood Avenues, run by Free99Fridge, which operated for a few years starting in 2020. Other active local initiatives today include Eastside Church’s community closet (www.eastsideatl.org/donations), ATL Free Fair (atlfreefair.com), and the Atlanta Community Tool Bank (www.atlantatoolbank.org).
