R:evolve Recycle has been working hard to provide an alternative to the wasteful high street shopping model since 2015. Rather than people throwing away their clothing they encourage swapping and sharing instead. Christina McKelvie, local MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, visited the new R:evolve premises at the heart of Hamilton Town Centre at 91 Quarry Street.

Anyone can drop in to the store and swap old clothing to earn points which they can use in exchange for a whole range of clothing including: shirts, jumpers, trousers, gym clothes, shoes and much more!

There are also repair and up-cycling workshops run from the store, training members in the use of skills which will extend the lifetime of their clothing. R:evolve aims to re-use all the textiles that come through the store by turning them into something spectacular or at the very least, practical!

Speaking after the visit Christina said: “The work done by R:evolve in tackling the culture of waste which we see across society is absolutely vital. More than 2 tonnes of clothes are processed every month across their stores which would otherwise be heading straight to the landfill. The quality of the clothing was absolutely tremendous and I am looking forward to using the points I have earned from trading in my old scarf on something new!”

Commenting, Anne-marie Clements, R:evolve’s volunteer development officer, said: “We in R:evolve are looking to bring back good old-fashioned ideas like swapping, sharing, giving and caring. We believe that we need to think differently about how we do things to protect our environment by reducing consumption, landfill waste and our carbon footprint.

“We all love fashion, but the fashion industry is one of the world’s largest largest pollutants! Why not come along to our store and you can help save our environment while getting yourself some great new clothes in the process?”