The Loop Celebrates One Year of Sustainable Impact

The Loop, a free clothing exchange store at the George Washington University dedicated to reducing textile waste, fostering community and promoting equitable access to clothing, is celebrating one year of sustainable impact after opening its doors at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Located in Academic Building Room 122 on the Mount Vernon campus and open from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, The Loop makes fashion more sustainable and accessible for all students, faculty and staff. All items at The Loop are sourced from donations from the GW community.

In its first year of operation, The Loop shared 4,241 clothing items with the GW community, served 1,600 customers, diverted 2,422 pounds of textiles from landfills while opening 41 total times.

In addition, it has hosted 25 events and 22 volunteering sessions. Those programs have included a live music concert with the student organization Tiny Dorm, a business casual clothing pop-up as part of the GW Career Expo in partnership with Career Services, donation sorting volunteering sessions, textile mural making sessions, second-hand Halloween costume exchange and mending and screen-printing workshops.

"What makes The Loop special is that it's not just a free store, but a space where sustainability, creativity and community come together," said Office of Sustainability Engagement Associate Juliana Carvalho, who oversees The Loop and textile reuse initiatives at GW. "None of this would be possible without the dedication of our student staff, campus partners and volunteers, and I'm so proud of the way they've helped this space thrive."

Clothing can be donated directly at The Loop or via bins on the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses with locations at District House, Shenkman Hall, Amsterdam Hall, South Hall, Potomac House and the Dorothy Williamson Clock Tower on MVC. Additional donations received are shared with local non-profit partners, including Love and Light, A Wider Circle and Bread for the City.

There are around 75 student volunteers in The Loop's network who support clothing donation sorting, events and day-to-day operations. The store is staffed by a team of four dedicated Textile Reuse interns.

Environmental studies major Ruth Holliday is one of those interns. She has been with the Office of Sustainability for three years and was one of the original proponents of The Loop, noting that the free clothing alleviated financial stress for students while giving them the opportunity to exchange clothes instead buying new ones. This, in turn, helps reduce the consumption of new materials and promotes circularity-hence the name. It has also, as Holliday said, created a strong culture and additional outlets for students.

"The Loop has also become more than just a clothing resource; it's a community space where students can hang out, connect and collaborate," Holliday said.

Several strong partnerships have also supported The Loop's mission and have helped it thrive in its first year, including The Textile Museum, the Mount Vernon Campus Life team and the Office of the Provost, which provided access to the space that made the initiative possible.