In honor of Earth Day this year, the Sanibel Captiva Young Professionals (SCYP) hosted a swap-shop thrift exchange, in partnership with SCCF Coastal Watch’s Adopt-a-Mangrove program.

The swap-shop functioned as a free and open exchange of goods aimed at promoting a sustainable mindset towards shopping in the community.

“While we are all familiar with the classic phrase ‘reduce, reuse, recycle,’ recycling often gets the most attention, while the practices of consuming less goods and using them for longer are equally as important,” said Allie Pecenka, SCCF policy associate and also the sustainability coordinator for SCYP.

The event began with a donation intake and social hour, when attendees had the option to donate their own gently loved items for fellow community members to “shop” from. During this time, participants also had the chance to learn about fostering a mangrove through Coastal Watch’s Adopt-A-Mangrove program and take home one of their own mangrove propagules to foster until SCCF plants it at a restoration site.

“The Adopt-A-Mangrove program is a great opportunity for community members. Watching these unique plants grow connects our island community to the mangrove forests that protect us from hurricane energy and erosion effects,” said SCCF Coastal Watch Technician Skye McDonald. “A special thank you to SCYP for hosting us at their Earth Day event so we could share this program with professionals starting their careers on the island. We hope fostering seedlings will give them that special connection to our natural systems and help them relate the importance of mangroves to our island visitors and new residents.”

Attendees were free to roam the shop and bring home as many new-to-them items as they desired, free of charge. Organizers of the swap-shop explained the goal was to encourage turning to our neighbors and greater community first, before automatically resorting to shopping at a large corporation with practices that harm the environment.

“There are so many unseen factors impacting the environment that go into the purchase of a new item, especially when online and through a major retailer,” Pecenka said. “Emissions from shipping, packaging and delivery of an item, along with potential impacts from the sourcing of raw materials needed to construct it, are all contributing factors to climate change and widespread environmental degradation.”

Of the 86 million tons of plastic packaging for new goods produced globally each year, not even 14% is recycled, according to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

SCYP members explained that utilizing alternative methods of shopping like a swap-shop allows individuals to reduce their environmental impact while building community, and saving money.

“Additional ways to engage in mindful consumption include shopping small and local, pre-planning your shopping in bulk, shopping in storefronts instead of online, mending or reusing what you already have, and consuming less in general,” said SCYP Founder Emery Lowden.

“SCCF would like to extend their gratitude to the Sanibel Captiva Young Professionals for inviting Coastal Watch to participate in this event and to the Sanibel Captiva Island Association of REALTORS for graciously hosting both groups in their space for Earth Day,” Pecenka said.