Social Studies teacher Sarah Dobbs is on a mission to further educate people on the climate crisis. She’s focusing on the clothing industry and the wasteful practices of a consumer.  She’s opening up her classroom to anyone that wants to stop contributing to the harmful effects of the mass production of clothing through a used clothing exchange.

Capt. Dobbs notes that most people know about the effects of carbon emissions and methane. 

  “Do this, do that and so forth, but it turns out the fashion industry is responsible for over 8% of global emissions and nobody’s talking about it,” she said. “Right? Because we love our clothes.”

  She came up with this idea from a past habit of her and her friends. “My friends and I would have a clothing exchange, because, you know, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

Capt. Dobbs highlighted the impact of improving the environment with just one article of used clothing. 

  “If everyone bought one used item this year, instead of new, it could save six pounds of CO2, which would be equivalent to half a million cars off the road for a year,” said Capt. Dobbs.

The wardrobe exchange Capt. Dobbs is hosting mimics a thrift shop. “We’ve got a fully functioning wardrobe. It’s better than a thrift store because it’s 100% free. You can take whatever you want as much as you want. All I ask is you leave the hangers and if you don’t end up wearing it, you bring it back.”

Capt. Dobbs wants to make one message clear, and that is that anyone can participate because it isn’t about financial status when using second-hand clothes, it’s about making an environmental impact.

“The most important thing that people misunderstand about it is that they believe, ‘oh , well, I can afford new clothes, so I don’t need to come use this’ and it’s like a non-issue,” said Capt. Dobbs. “ Teachers are coming to get clothes because it’s not about ‘Can you afford it?’ It’s that no one should be buying something brand new.”

Capt. Dobbs’ room is located in Cunningham building, Room 134 and is open to anyone wanting to participate.