UW-Eau Claire hosted its largest yet “Swap-O-Rama: Creating Alternatives to Consumerism” at The Cabin on Tuesday, an event to promote and support a more sustainable way of life.
This swap is coordinated by the university’s Women’s and LGBTQ Resource Center.
Women’s Issues Program Coordinator Abigale Vercauteren was the coordinator for Swap-O-Rama. It is her fifth time organizing the event.
“The coordinators thought of this event, and it’s always been called Swap-O-Rama. It was pretty well received,” Vercauteren said.
It has been held on campus since the fall semester of 2005 and encourages participants to do more for sustainability. By hosting this event, the members of the Resource Center provide the chance for people to not only donate clothing that they no longer want, but to also receive items that they would like to have, at no cost.
“We start collecting, generally, about two weeks beforehand,” Vercauteren said. “This is the most we’ve ever had to start with, so it’s been really great.”
Many items are swapped at this donation-based event, including shoes, books, belts and various clothing. There are also children’s clothing items available, along with stuffed animals and toys.
Vercauteren also said that they have an average of 100-150 people who visit the tables throughout the day.
Junior Katie Johnson was one of the many people to visit the Swap-O-Rama, flipping through books and looking on at the large amount of shoes.
“I love it, I’ve found a lot of cool stuff over the years,” Johnson said. “It’s huge right now. I’ve came in the past, and it’s been like, two or three tables, and it’s the entire Cabin now.”
Many other students milling around The Cabin seemed to feel similarly. Many were excitedly picking out blouses they could never afford because of the brand name store that sells it or finding retro treasures. A glimpse to the table holding a fair amount of fiction could find a few people flipping through the variety of books.
The open doors of The Cabin allowed many passing by to stop in and look over the apparel or to find out more about the event, Vercauteren said. The placement of Swap-O-Rama helped raise awareness of the event to those who had not heard of it through other sources. During the noon hour there was more traffic in The Cabin because so many students were in the building taking a break for lunch.
Faculty stopped by as well, pouring over all of the tables, including the children’s items. A few stopped to examine the box of pots and pans that someone had donated.
Vercauteren was excited as well, looking over the large amounts of clothing and the people examining things.
“This is the biggest we’ve ever been.”
