NEWS Students and staff came together at UMU Swap Day 2026 to exchange clothes and books. By making reuse simple and accessible across campus, the event helped around 100 items find new homes. The enthusiastic response has inspired plans for more swap days in the future.
During the day, around 100 clothing items and books changed hands as students and staff gathered for UMU Swap Day 2026.
ImageElsa BjurmanStudents and staff gathered in the Social Sciences Building for Umeå University’s first official clothing and book swap day. Participants dropped off clothes and books the day before the event and received tickets, which they could then use to choose new favourites.
– We are very pleased with the great interest shown. It was fantastic to see so many people find a new garment or a new story to take home. Things that were no longer needed by one person gained new value with someone else, says Elsa Bjurman, Project Manager for Umeå University’s Healthy Campus initiative.
The event was organised by Umeå University together with Umeå Student Union and the Umeå Science and Technology Students’ Union (NTK), with support from Nordic Congress and Akademiska Hus, as part of SEE Sustainability Week.
For Sanna Andretzky from Umeå Student Union, getting involved in the organising group was an obvious choice.
– At Umeå Student Union, we believe sustainability is extremely important. We also see that it is an important issue for many of our members and student associations. Since we represent them, we want our activities to reflect their values, says Sanna, Vice Union President
Responsible for business and membership issues at Umeå Student Union.
For NTK, the swap day was a welcome initiative that aligned closely with the organisation’s commitment to sustainability issues.
“We have seen that there is interest in swap days among students, so it was great to be part of making this happen. We hope this can be the beginning of more similar events together with the university and the other student unions,” says Frida Långström, Events Officer at NTK.
After the swap day, the remaining clothes were collected by Lotta Lundstedt to be given a second life through remaking.
ImageElsa BjurmanAt lunchtime, Young UTRI invited participants to a lecture on sustainable fashion with Lotta Lundstedt, Associate professor at Department of Creative Studies (Teacher Education).
– We want to contribute to more opportunities for people to meet and discuss these issues. That is why we saw the swap day as the perfect opportunity to share knowledge about sustainable fashion, says Hilde Weiser, Chair of Young UTRI.
During the lecture, Lotta highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of circular clothing systems, raising questions about how we can extend the lifespan of our clothes, reduce resource use, and rethink our relationship with the garments we already own.
Throughout the day, many participants expressed a desire for more swap days, and people who had missed the clothing and book drop-off showed interest in taking part next time.
– We received such a positive response. It can sometimes be a long journey for students to reach second-hand shops and other reuse initiatives that accept old clothes and books. That is why it was incredibly rewarding to bring reuse directly to students,” says Sanna Andretzky.
For the organisers, the focus now is on building on the experiences gained from this year’s inaugural event.
– We will first evaluate what worked well and what could be improved. But we consider this to have been a successful activity and definitely something we would like to do again, with the student unions and the university working together, Sanna concludes.