Return
Rita
Gomes
I have studied psychology in Portugal and Sweden just before 5 years of clinical and educational practice with children. After these 5 years I have decided to ask for a sabbatical and take some time off to live and work. What was then planned to be a 6 months experience, ended up being 6 years. Amongst volunteering and teaching in England, India, Thailand and Spain, I have returned to my home country with the goal of not only being a more sustainable person but also to spread the word of how we can all make a difference with our small daily actions. The fact that I have adopted the behaviour of extending the life of clothes to a maximum, made me believe that not only is possible, but also extremely beneficial and accessible to everyone.
PROJECT
Circular Wear (CW) aims to promote and educate critical thinking within the scope of environmental awareness and circular economy through empowering and providing tools and initiatives to share and use what we already have. To promote citizens' action to reuse, share and exchange existing clothes, increasing its life, and reducing our footprint regarding pollution and waste associated with the production of new clothes. For a sustainable, ecological, circular and sharing behaviour. With W4C Lisbon, Circular Wear aims to develop a solid project with a more sustainable business model, assuring the free accessibility to all users and still allow the project to grow and create new initiatives that complement the existing exchanging and sharing locations called swap spots, allowing us to reach more people.
I have been organising swapping dinners with friends since I was a teenager, wearing second hand clothes that used to belong to my friends. When I left Portugal 10 years ago, I came across a very established second hand market which has strengthened my behaviour of giving another life to clothes someone else didn't want. This led to a smooth but fast habit of not buying new. From the moment I realised that I could wear items through sharing a closet, and supporting charities, I felt compelled to share this mind-set to as many people as possible. That is when CW was born.
MOTIVATION FOR AND COMMITMENT TO CREATING A BETTER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE PLANET
The change in consumption behaviour seeks to directly decrease it, resulting in a reduction in demand thus influencing production. This reduction has as the direct consequence in decreasing the pollution levels caused by the industry. With environmental benefits insofar as it is intended to reduce the amount of clothing that ends up in landfills, at the same time as the amount of clothing purchased on the mass market is reduced. With social benefits by empowering users to have the tools to contribute, with their actions, to a more sustainable planet.
