The Finders and the Resource Work Cooperative (aka South Hobart Tip Shop) will be joining forces for an pop-up and celebration in Hobart.
The event aims to promote sustainability and sell some vintage offerings this Friday 26 February and will be held at The Finders at 140 Harrington Street from 5-7pm. It will be the first time these two collectives have joined forces to show off their wares.
The Finders is a vintage fashion co-op, run by four Hobart women who own Vintage Stallion, Heaven Vintage, Moon Sign Taurus Vintage and Hiatus Store. The store stocks vintage clothing several eras as well as small batch items, and zero waste products from Hobart designers.
“The Finders was an idea born in the wake of COVID,” said Bec Taylor from The Finders. “We opened in late 2020. We share a lot of the same values around and we all love the Tip Shop. Both of our enterprises are passionate about the environment, shopping local and reducing waste, so co-hosting this event together seems a perfect match’.
“Almost all of the fittings in our shop came from the Tip Shop too, so that makes it even more perfect! When we did the fit out, we were determined not to buy anything new unless we absolutely had to, so most of what you see in store came from South Hobart.”
The RWC or Tip Shop was founded in 1993 and employs 38 Tasmanians who run the business as a social enterprise. They take goods that are being thrown out and sell them on to new homes. This creates employment as well as minimising waste and caring for the planet by providing sustainable options for the purchasing of goods.
“The Tip Shop works to reduce landfill while creating employment for our co-op workers,” said Resource Collective co-ordinator Jason Richards.
“I think there is a misconception in some of the community that we are the council, but we aren’t – we are a social enterprise full of passionate waste warriors!”
“One of the most discarded items is clothing. Our shop is overflowing with garments, and we have been collecting some absolute pearlers for this event.”
Fast fashion has seen manufacturers worldwide producing garments quickly, cheaply and in mass quantities, seeing more items than ever before reaching landfill. An average consumer throws away 32 kilograms of clothing per year.
Globally 13 million tons of textile waste are produced each year, of which 95% could be reused or recycled. In addition to all this, the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world.
The opening party for the Tip Shop pop-up is Friday 26 February from 5-7pm at 140 Harrington Street.
The pop-up will remain in-store for two weeks.
