A simple, free system that connects parents at school so children's clothes can be reused
The Problem
Children outgrow their clothes quickly and often, leading to many good, wearable clothes being thrown away. Society has made it easy to shop for and cast off clothes but lacks a simple free local reuse system.
Many cities have ways to get used clothes, but most are within a shopping system, happen infrequently, or are missed by people who are not on social media.
The Goal
We want to reduce consumerist behaviours, especially with children, help parents save money, and make Heritage Clothes Friends a normal part of going to school.
The Solution
We're creating a repeatable, free system for schools that allows parents to connect and have their children matched to two Heritage Clothes Friends: one child who is 2 years older and one child who is 2 years younger.
Parents will coordinate to get outgrown clothes from the older friend's parents and give outgrown clothes to the younger friend's parents.
This happens naturally at the change of seasons – typically twice a year, during fall and spring.
The Project
How it will work
1
Parents fill out a simple form with their child's name, size, and contact information
2
The system automatically matches each child with an older and younger Heritage Clothes Friend
3
Parents receive contact information and coordinate clothes exchanges
4
Twice a year (fall/spring), families exchange clothes as children grow
Benefits
Free
The system will use simple, free tools like Google Forms and Google Sheets. No cost to the school or parents.
Easy
Parents will only need to fill out a short form. Matching happens automatically, and parents take it from there.
Sustainable
Will reduce clothing waste, save families money, and teach children the value of reuse from an early age.
We are going to prototype the system and test it out at our local elementary school in January of 2026. We'll refine it, then offer it open source as a recipe other schools can use – in Norway or elsewhere.
Our hope is to make Heritage Clothes Friends a natural part of school and kindergarten life.
If you’d like to use the system in your local school, connect with us below and we will keep you updated on our progress.
Next steps
Who we are
We are community members in the Sagene neighbourhood of Oslo and we are hoping to make it easier for families everywhere to save money and keep kid’s clothes out of landfills for as long as possible.
This project is created in collaboration with Sagene Bærekraftsverksted and the Hive Initiative.
Want to bring it to your school? Just fill out the form and we will update you on our progress and share with you the final materials.