Spring is a great time to go through your closets to see what’s being worn and what is taking space.  Inevitably you find clothes that are cute, fashionable, and well, just not you! You knew it was en vogue, it even looked good on you.  So you purchased it and ever since it has been decoration for the inside of your closet.  The thought of donating it drives the wasteful knife in even further and you just can’t bring yourself to do it.

The answer?  Swap it!

Even before the threat of environmental peril greenwashed the mainstream, clothing swaps have long been trendy among budget-minded fashionable types. And now that swapping has become the latest means of recycling, more than just thrift store mistakes are being traded.

How to Get Your Swap On:

- Do your own clothing swap. As Kathryn illustrated in her book, How to Be a Budget Fashionista, organizing your own clothing swap is pretty simple- just gather a few, fashion-minded friends, set a date, and swap away. It’s a great way to get rid of something that may be a bit too pricey or precious to give to a thrift store.

- Friendless? Visit Meetup.com. Don’t have any friends? Well you can search for swap party via the meetup.com, a site that helps organize group meetings around the global. If you can’t find an existing swap party, then start your own.

- Try Communto. Commuto is an online swap meet in which users can create profiles with lists of items they are both looking to trade and are interested in finding. Members can join specific networks (e.g. schools) and communities to keep it local and avoid shipping costs. The best part…it’s absolutely free! Join a local community or create one of your own (what a great way to get to know like-minded fashionistas at your college, or use Commuto’s website to organize swaps amongst your friends). Clothes aren’t the only thing to swap, use Commuto’s website to swap textbooks at school, movies or anything else you can think of!

- Also check out SwapStyle.com. SwapStyle.com is another free service that allows you to “swap” unwanted clothing from your closet with other fashion lovers. This site has been around for a while (used to charge $9.95 for membership), so it has a pretty strong fashion following.