As a community, Newcastle is definitely moving towards a better environmentally-conscious future; from what we’re eating, to who we’re buying from to even what we’re wearing. We’ve seen second-hand stores open up like The Conscious Exchange, retail stores stocking eco goodies like The Eco Emporyum on Hunter St and so much more pop up around town. Recent addition to the eco-movement is Sheona from The Re: Club.

The brit turned part-Aussie originates from Salisbury in the south coast of England. Moving to the land of Aust in 2015 and finally settling in our very own coastal city of Newcastle. With an honour’s degree in Environmental Biology and a background as a Sustainability Consultant, Sheona’s passion for the environment is more than evident.

In January this year, The Re: Club was officially born following Sheona’s shock with the real side of the fashion industry.

“The Re: Club was an idea I’d had for about a year prior to launching. After watching The True Cost on Netflix and also hearing that only 15% of clothing donated to op shops in Australia is actually resold and that a huge majority ends up going directly to landfill.

“To make matters even worse, charities combined spend $13 million a year on tipping fees, just to get rid of all this clothing. I was shocked,” Sheona said.

Twelve months later and The Re: Club slowly started coming to life. Taking the traditional concept of a clothing swap, Sheona reinvented it into something more mainstream and accessible for all.

So, what exactly is The Re: Club?

The Re: Club aims to reinvent the way we all shop for clothing into more sustainable practices for the future. There are already enough clothes on the Earth to sustain everybody for a long while, so we’re aiming to shift a few mindsets from the default shopping of buying new, to buying re-loved; whilst still shopping your personal favourite brands and styles.

With an online store and local pop-up shopping events, The Re: Club is home to a huge range of clothing and accessories. The business also offers a membership scheme for customers, whereby for $49 a year, you can trade in any unwanted clothing items in exchange for points, which you can then use as currency to purchase new re-loved items from the store! Members can also get their items collected hassle-free from their doors (within 25km of Newcastle) plus a number of other member perks.

“As far as collections go, we collect all types of clothing, shoes, shoeboxes and accessories – the only items we can’t accept are undies and socks unless they’re brand new with tags on! All items must be clean prior to collection and any items deemed unwearable are kept in a rag pile.

“We’re in the process of creating a product line from these unwearable items, so that they get a chance at a second life in another form, and we can guarantee we are a completely zero-waste initiative ensuring everything that passes through The Re: Club is saved from going to landfill.”

With current restrictions in place, The Re: Club’s pop-up events have been temporarily put on hold, but you can still shop online at their website here.

Happy eco-shopping!