Earth Day Clothing Swap at Pier 57
By Natasha Lancaster
ORGANIZED BY VEGGIE MIJAS, a non-profit working at the intersection of environmental and racial justice, the event was a clothing swap to celebrate Earth Day. Photo by Natasha Lancaster.
On a sunny Saturday in April at Pier 57, dozens of people looked through a variety of clothes from jean skirts to exercise leggings carefully laid out on folding tables. “This is really cute!” and “what do you think about this?” could be heard from the various attendees throughout the space. Organized by Veggie Mijas, a non-profit working at the intersection of environmental and racial justice, the event was a clothing swap to celebrate Earth Day. Participants could sign up for free online or at the venue, donate their own clothing, and take up to five items from the sale.
As described on their website, Veggie Mijas “is a collective of people of color passionate about spreading awareness of the lack of resources we have to healthier options in the hood, animal liberation, and environmental justice.” The group has chapters across America in most major cities, and the NYC chapter has held various events in the last year from a vegan night market to a community dinner at Urban Vegan Kitchen. Cristina Figueoroa, a volunteer and organizer for Veggie Mijas, said of the success of the clothing swap, “This is our largest event we’ve had in a long time. We’ve collaborated with a handful of organizations. At the beginning of today, we had 275 RSVPs and we were featured on the local news.”
The event took place just past the well-known food bazaar, Market 57, in an area that nonprofits can use free of charge. When asked about the collaboration with Pier 57, Figueoroa said, “There were other venues we looked at that cost like $500 and we don’t necessarily have those funds for an event like this—especially if we want it to be accessible—we aren’t charging people for the clothes. So, it was really great to hear about this space.” As Cristina articulated, the swap was focused on both accessibility and sustainability. “We wanted to have this event because there’s enough clothes on this planet already for the next six generations. We do not need to be making any more clothes otherwise it ends up in oceans and landfills” Figueoroa explained.
Figuerora also emphasized that Veggie Mijas encourages people at all stages of their sustainability journey to get involved: “It’s not about perfection. You know, frankly, if you do fast fashion a lot, that’s ok. It’s also about taking the shame away from these kinds of things. Maybe, this was the first clothing swap that somebody came to.”
Similarly, when asked how she got involved in the organization, Figueoroa said “I joined Veggie Mijas last summer and I’ll say, I’m a corporate girly–9 to 5—I work in advertising and I’ve been living in New York since fall of 2020. So, basically, just living here, there’s a lot of dialogue around transplants and how much we take from New York and we’re not necessarily eager to give back” to which she added “So, basically, the reason why I wanted to join Veggie Mijas is to be able to give back in any way I can.”
As participants left the event, phrases like “this was so amazing” and “I can’t believe I got this” floated around the room, indicating that Veggie Mijas is succeeding in creating community-driven and accessible opportunities for New York City residents.
