We were lucky to catch up with Mireya Zellner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mireya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I started this endeavor in 2021. During my Sophomore year at Emerson, I was looking at my closet and suddenly became aware that I had way too many clothes that I never wore, yet I was bored with everything I had. I did not have any money to shop and I really did not want to add more items to the landfill. A good friend of mine gave me the idea to host a little clothing swap/flea market for our friends in the Boston Common. The idea intrigued me, so, I made a flyer on Word Document and posted it on all of my social media. That was the beginning of Sustainable Swaps. The first event had about 10-15 people, but little in size, and big in heart. The energy was high, we listened to music on my little speaker and it was a lovely little day in the park. Since then, we have had events much larger and more professional, but in my opinion, that was one of my favorite swaps. My friend Joe described our events as “A decentralized gathering of homies on picnic blankets, swapping clothing and saving the environment.” This is the heart of Sustainable Swaps.

Mireya, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, My name is Mireya Zellner and I am the founder and creator of Sustainable Swaps! I am a 21-year-old Senior at Emerson College. I am passionate about sustainability, fashion, music, diversity, and global experience.

First, I decide what type of event I would like to host, e.g., outside, indoors, connected to a holiday/celebratory day, or even partnered with a different organization. Then we find a venue to host the event, up to 3 bands/artists to perform at the event, vendors to be able to attend and create a flyer to advertise the event. We have drinks, local creative collectives, one site clothing alterations (mainly for indoor events) and a ton of fun extra endeavors!

What we do is take clothing we no longer have a use for and swap or sell it, to promote reusing textiles and a great way to create a community in the Fashion World.

There are typically 10-15 ‘official’ vendors at the events to ensure inventory, but events are typically free for visitors. The individual vendor sets their own clothing prices with the ability to accept or reject a swap.

Everyone is encouraged to bring clothing/small items (e.g., jewelry, accessories, etc.) that they do not want any more in a bag/duffle and a sheet that you can set your items on! It’s first come, first serve at every event, so if you want a larger section, show up earlier rather than later.

I wanted to create an environment that was more focused on sustainability rather than selling clothing. If this were mostly selling, it would quickly turn into another vintage depop/vinted resellers event. My hope is that people can trade clothing and sell clothing at reasonable prices because they want to find their old clothes a new home, not just to buy for the sole purpose of reselling it for a profit.

Sustainable Swaps’ wants to create a place/event to find new clothing sustainably, as well as give your old clothing one more chance to find a new person to love them! Each item of clothing has so much history, we hope to continue the cycle.
Sustainable Swaps’ mission within the local Boston and surrounding New England communities is to repurpose used clothing and create a market where we do not have to throw away used fabrics, but simply find a new home for them. By continuing these events, slowly, we can educate our audience further and encourage shopping second-hand, and lower their environmental impact. I hope to see people move away from purchasing from these big corporate brands like SHEIN, Zara, etc. Hopefully, if they see how easy it is to find the clothing they like for cheap, they won’t have a need to buy from these large chains.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Originally, this idea was exactly that. An idea. I never expected this to turn into what it is now. With that said, after my first initial event, I decided to start an Instagram. First thing I did was follow all of my friends, and people that went to my school. This is an easy way to get a starter audience! After posting the flyer for the next event, and securing some vendors for the event, we all reposted the images. This drove engagement, and got people interested in the cause. As we grew as an organization, we have consistently posted flyers, recap photos and videos, general content, interviews, and videos about sustainable fashion. We primarily use TikTok and Instagram, and try to create a content calendar each month of the posts we will be creating. Additionally, we work with a social media manager, and brand creators to ensure consistent rollout of content.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think that Sustainable Swaps somewhat speaks for itself. As a small business, we have the heart and passion for this project. At every event, I love interacting with new people, and getting to know the people who make up SS. We host consistent events, and we are committed to the people who show up to these events:) We want to create a community full of people as interested and passionate about the cause as us! This is meant to a community driven endeavor, we do not want mass production to take the heart out of Sustainable Swaps!!

Contact Info:

• Website: sustainableswapss.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sustainableswapss
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-swapss/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sustainableswapss TikTok

Image Credits
Ethan Schlesinger, Maya Seri, Claire Lee, Will Ingman