Student Launches Campus Swap Shop After National Eco-Summit
Inspired by her experience at the Project Green Challenge eco-summit in San Francisco, Sarah Q. ’26 returned to Westover with a powerful idea to bring sustainability to life on campus.
In the 2025 spring semester, she launched Style Cycle, a community swap shop located on Westover’s third floor dorm corridor. The space invites all community members to donate, trade, and repurpose clothing and accessories—a creative, student-led response to fast fashion and consumer waste.
What Is the Project Green Challenge?
Hosted by Turning Green, Project Green Challenge (PGC) is a month-long, global competition that mobilizes students to take daily action around sustainability, climate justice, and environmental health. Finalists are invited to San Francisco for an eco-summit where they pitch their own Climate Action Project, a solution-oriented initiative rooted in community impact.
As a finalist, Sarah had the opportunity to connect with environmental leaders, mentors, and fellow change-makers from around the world.
From Summit to Style Cycle
While brainstorming her Climate Action Project at the summit, Sarah focused on creating something lasting and accessible for the Westover community.
“I came up with the idea of a swap shop when I was thinking of my project being something more permanent and engaging—in other words, a cycle that could sustain itself in the community,” she shared.
Back on campus, Sarah surveyed students, faculty, and staff to gauge interest and needs. Their responses helped shape the launch of Style Cycle and confirmed her idea would fill a meaningful niche.
Halfway through the semester, Sarah distributed a follow-up survey to evaluate the shop’s success.
“Westover’s community used the swap shop exactly as intended!” she said. “The results definitely exceeded my expectations, and I felt really fortunate to have a community so willing to support and engage in a student-led project.”
In addition to using Style Cycle, the feedback showed that more community members had begun thrifting, mending, and repurposing their clothing instead of relying on fast fashion.
Leading with Purpose
Leading with Purpose
Dorm Faculty and advisor Lindsay Osborn reflected on the impact of Sarah’s work: “Style Cycle quickly became a prized corner of campus life, an ideal space to trade belongings. Sarah’s project helped Westover students embrace the joy of reuse and the value of giving items a second life.”
Looking ahead, Sarah hopes to expand the swap shop model by hosting educational events on campus and connecting with other boarding schools interested in replicating her initiative throughout her senior year.
“From concept to execution, Sarah approached the project with thoughtfulness, creativity, and a clear desire to build community on Corridor,” Osborn added. “She didn’t just organize a clothing swap—she created a space that promotes sustainability, inclusivity, and self-expression.”
With Style Cycle, Sarah turned a climate challenge into a community asset. Her leadership and advocacy continue to shape a more sustainable and connected Westover.
Be Boldly You
Westover School admits students of any race, color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin, or disability to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. As a gender-diverse girls school, Westover welcomes applicants and students who are assigned female at birth and/or identify as girls. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational policies, admissions and financial aid policies, and athletic or other school-administered programs.