Remember thredUP, the awesome online clothing swap service? Well, they're taking things in a new direction, shifting their focus to clothing for kiddos! Their new tag line really says it all:

"Clothes don't grow. Kids do."

We spend hundreds of dollars every year on clothing for children, only to have them outgrow those items within a few months or maybe a year or two. All of that spending means lots of raw materials, too! Instead of hitting up the big box store for yet another pair of sweatshop-made jeans, you can check out thredUP and swap those too-small items for new ones.

The whole thing reminds me of Hand Me Down Day from when I was little. I always loved Hand Me Down Day, but a lot of kinds I knew didn't at all. With the new kid-oriented thredUP, kids can feel like they're shopping for their clothes, but the impact is drastically reduced.

Why Buy When You Can Swap?

I love running across new online swapping and borrowing services! Not only do they save cash, but they help conserve resources.

If you're not looking for kid's clothes, there are some other swap and borrow services worth looking into. Women can sign up for Swap Style, a huge online clothing swap service. Another service, Rehash, lets you swap clothing and books!

Share Some Sugar is a great resource for homeowners. You can connect with neighbors to borrow tools and supplies, rather than purchasing them new at the hardware store.

There are even regional services popping up. NeighborGoods, for examples, caters just to residents of a community in North Carolina.

And, of course, there's Freecycle who pioneered the whole idea of this sort of give and take online community.

Have you run across any of these borrowing and trading websites? We'd love to hear about others that are out there!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by chrisandjenni