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The Loop & Textile Reuse
The Loop is GW’s free clothing exchange store located on the Mount Vernon Campus in Academic Building Room 122. our mission is to promote textile circularity, foster community, and increase accessibility to responsible clothing on campus!
How It Works
All clothing, shoes, and accessories are completely free for the GW community. As The Loop operates on a donation basis, clothing exchange is not required, but highly encouraged! If you come to The Loop without donations, you can simply donate next time you visit us or bring your items to the nearest blue bin around campus.
The Loop is intended to bring together a community that promotes responsible fashion, textile circularity, and mindfulness about consumption habits. If you'd like to collaborate or host an event with The Loop, email us at sustaingw
gwu [dot] edu!
Clothing Donation
All the inventory at The Loop is sourced from clothing donations by GW community members, mainly from the blue donation bins located around campus.
Each year, the Office of Sustainability receives more than 25,000 pounds worth of clothing donations, which are largely passed on to our charity community partners, including Bread for the City, Love and Light, and Green Drop. Given the volume of donations, there is an opportunity to redirect some clothing back into the GW community. At the same time, the donations provided to external partners can be continuously refined to better suit the needs of the community members they serve.
Volunteering at The Loop
The Loop hosts bi-monthly volunteering sessions for students to get involved with textile reuse initiatives on campus. As a Loop Volunteer, you would be helping us restock, organize, and curate The Loop. Potential volunteer tasks include collecting clothing donations from donations bins across campus, sorting donations for pieces to be moved to The Loop, sorting Loop clothes by type and size, organizing clothing racks, restocking racks, decorating the store, and more. We have volunteering sessions in Foggy Bottom and at MVC. Additionally, our volunteer sessions can count towards community service hours through GivePulse.
For up-to-date information, join our Loop GroupMe and follow @sustainablegw on Instagram!
- What can I donate?
We accept clean clothing, shoes, and accessories as donations, including hats, scarves, bags, sunglasses, jewelry, and more!
GW Departments and offices looking to donate merchandise can drop off any wearable items (t-shirts, sweatshirts, backpacks, hats) directly in our clothing donation bins. For other types of merchandise donation please email sustaingwgwu [dot] edu.- Where can I find a clothing donation bin on campus?
Our clothing donation bins are located in
District House, 1st floor Hallway
Shenkman Hall, Lobby
Amsterdam Hall, Lobby
South Hall, Basement
Potomac House, Basement
Dorothy Williamson Clock Tower on MVC.
We also highly encourage bringing your clothing donations to The Loop! For GW Staff looking to set up a clothing drive at their office, please email sustaingw
gwu [dot] edu (sustaingw[at]gwu[dot]edu).- Size and Style Range Transparency
Because all clothing is sourced from donations, The Loop’s offerings are limited to the items received. At times, this may result in a limited size and style range. The Loop strives to be as inclusive to all members of the GW community, and the team continues to identify and stock as wide of a range of sizing and styles of clothing as possible. The Loop encourages community members with clothing of all sizes and styles to donate and exchange as they shop for new items.
This project is the result of a long-term collaboration between The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, GW Student Life Mount Vernon Campus Team, and the Office of Sustainability.
Community Partners
- Bread for the City
A front-line agency serving DC’s low-income residents, providing clothing, food, medical care, and legal and social services to reduce the burden of poverty. Learn more here.
- Love and Light
Non-profit organization based in Woodstock, VA that primarily serves disabled veterans, victims of domestic violence, and low-income communities. Learn more here.
- Green Drop
Donations given to Green Drop support wounded veterans and their families through the Military Order of the Purple Heart and communities in need through the Red Cross. Learn more here.