Waste Not

Fall shopping for the reluctant consumer

by Holly Otterbein

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Published: Oct 14, 2008

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Wendy Tremayne has one dirty little smudge on an otherwise immaculate anti-consumerist résumé: She studied marketing in college.

Everything else about her adds up. She played bass in an all-girl rock band; she gave up currency for a year and a half in the '90s, exchanging blankets for rent and live music for food. In 2004, she pioneered the first naked co-ed yoga class in New York City.

"I grew up in a commodified world, hated it, and then studied marketing," she says. "But understanding psychology, sociology and humanity in the 21st century is, in a way, put to the task of the marketer."

To her credit, Tremayne's background helped her explode a project that is close to her DIY heart. In 2003, she founded Swap-O-Rama-Rama, a clothing exchange where people bring at least one bag of threads, part ways with it, and then dig into the giant piles of textiles around them. The event isn't just for scoring a slick winter coat, though. It also seeks to address some all-American hang-ups, including mass consumption, waste, greed, body image and social isolation.

Swap-O-Rama-Rama — which will make its way to Philly this Sunday with the help of the Philadelphia Sewing Collective — achieves this bulky goal with thoughtful nuances. Mirrors are not allowed at the event, quietly discouraging vanity and self-judgment while also coercing people to socialize. "Everyone is rushing to find something special, so they turn to whoever's next to them to ask how they look," says Tremayne. "It's trickery, but it works." Participants are also encouraged to refashion their clothing at various knitting, silk-screening and sewing machine stations.

But nothing speaks to Tremayne's anti-materialist mission like what turns up at Swap-O-Rama-Rama. Thousands and thousands of pounds of scarves, overalls, Gap purses, Marc Jacobs bags, Wrangler jeans and L.L. Bean fleeces — all products that someone ostensibly didn't want or need — line the tables and floors. "Some people are hesitant to give up their things at first, but when they see all of this abundance, the change is almost immediate," says Tremayne. "They let go."

Philadelphia may stand to benefit from confronting its waste so directly. According to estimates by Next Great City — a coalition formed in 2005 to address local environmental and public health issues — Philly disposes of 800,000 tons of trash per year. And even with the new single-stream system, we have quite a bit of work to do — at 5 percent, our recycling rate is the second worst of any large city in the country.

"In cities, we need to learn how to be better consumers, so that we can throw away less trash," says Megan Haupt, director of the Philadelphia Sewing Collective. She plans to keep the event, which has never been held in Philly before, true to Tremayne's vision. The $20 entry fee will go to charity, and local artists will help guide participants through the alteration process at various workshops. Ellie Lum, co-founder of R.E.Load Baggage Inc., will teach budding designers how to turn their T-shirts into pairs of undies. Other workshops will show how to make spandex leggings in less than an hour, crochet and silk-screen.

When their work is complete, people can remove the clothing's label and replace it with a more appropriate tag: "100% Recycled or Made by Me."

Swap-O-Rama-Rama Sun., Oct. 19, noon-5 p.m., $20, Old Pine Community Center, 401 Lombard St., 215-627-2493, swaporamarama.org, swapphilly@gmail.com

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