For the past three years, there’s been an on-campus thrift “store” for students to shop and donate to in the basement of Joe McNabb. Although some students regularly visit to sift through the donations for something that suits them, the team behind the store is trying to make more students aware of it.
There is an assortment of items for students to choose from, including a variety of clothing options such as winter clothes, boots, Prin merchandise, and dressy clothing. Dorm items that students can take to use in their dorms are also in stock. And it’s all free.
The Clothes Closet is a student-run organization that began with the aim of giving students, particularly international students, the opportunity to acquire new clothes with the changing seasons.
In its third year on campus, the Closet was created by Tiffany Randolph, the resident counselor (RC) for Rackham Court, and Becky Coles, an academic adviser on campus, who both enjoy thrifting.
They thought that it would be a good asset to students if there were a designated location for tossed-away clothing to go, as the share boxes around campus were always overflowing with items. Share boxes can still be found throughout the houses, and they are places where students can dump old items when they want to get rid of them.
With the help of former sustainability professor Karen Eckert, who found and cleared the room where the Closet is now located, Randolph and Coles organized the closet and made it what it is today.
Today, the Closet is run through the Sustainability Center, which is usually staffed by students in that major. This semester, junior Maria Keller is working the closet, and Ronja Bakowsky, a junior with a focus on sustainability, is set to take it over again in the Spring.
Keller’s job includes organizing the clothes, washing new clothes that get donated, and running the “register,” or where students can write their name on a list if they take any clothes.“There’s no official limit on clothing items students can take,” she said.
Organizers say it is also one way Principia brings sustainability to life on campus. Senior Medara Udoekong, a sustainability major, said, “The idea of the Clothes Closet is that when you reuse clothes, it is much better for the environment and you don’t have to buy new clothes with fast fashion.”
Udoekong explained that the Closet is one of the ways sustainability is brought to life on campus by the sustainability department. Other programs associated with the department include the Green Bikes program, created to provide students with reused bikes; the feminine hygiene product dispensers found in bathrooms; and the solar panel farm, designed by many faculty members in the department.
The Clothes Closet could see some improvement, according to Randolph. “It needs to be better advertised and open more,” said Randolph. She would also like to see more advertising for donations, especially from professors and staff.
Principia students shared a variety of opinions on the Closet.