City to host inaugural Children’s Storytime and pre-loved toy swap

After the success of the November 2023 inaugural Swap – Don’t Shop Fashion Gala event, the City of Armadale will be hosting a Children’s Storytime, featuring a toy, game and book swap. This free event is scheduled for Saturday 3 February 2024, from 10.00am -11.00am, at Armadale District Hall.

The Children's Storytime featuring toy, game and book swaps, seeks to change the community’s relationship with products and encourage swapping and reusing instead of always buying new. The event is targeted at parents and guardians of toddlers and children up to the ages of five years old.

This has both financial and environmental implications, with the event aiming to focus on perspective change, extending the life of products and materials, and reducing the need to always buy something new.

Understanding and educating our community with a practical example of material circulation, also serves to reduce the need for items and products to enter landfill prematurely. By sharing and re-using toys, games and books, families can leave the event with ‘new’ items, and simultaneously reduce their impact on the environment. This event will also allow the community to connect, and give children the opportunity to learn, sing and take home some ‘new’ and pre-loved toys, books and games.

Mayor Ruth Butterfield said: “The City is eager to host this great initiative, following on from the success of our Swap – Don’t Shop Fashion Gala. Encouraging families and young children to consider the swapping and exchanging toys and rather than always buying something new, will save parents money and reduce waste.

“We hope the event will set a trend towards parents sharing and swapping pre-loved items within their wider community networks.”

November 2023’s Swap - Don’t Shop Fashion Gala event saw 65kg of clothing making their way into new wardrobes. This saved 65kg of textile waste entering the City’s landfill and approximately 1.625 tonnes of CO2 avoided.

Please visit the event page to learn more.