December 15, 2021
by Livi Rodman: Staff Writer
If you’ve ever been on any social media platform in the past few years, you’ve probably seen or heard something about thrift stores and/or thrifting. Thrift stores are charity shops that sell second hand clothes, furniture, and other miscellaneous items. Not only are they a great alternative to fast fashion, but they also tremendously help the environment, and offer a cheaper and more sustainable way to shop.
To begin, it’s important to know that fast fashion is extremely harmful to the planet. Fashion production makes up 10% of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. Not only that, but over 80% of purchased products end up in the trash a year later. After learning these facts, most people would feel guilty that they played into this massive production but really, it’s not their fault. Plus there is a very easy fix to this, which is thrifting. Cutting off all of fast fashion may seem absurd, which is completely understandable, however; thrifting has much more to offer than it may initially seem. It’s so much more affordable than new clothes and believe it or not; almost all clothes in thrift stores are nearly brand new or in great condition. Below this article are pictures of a few articles of clothing that were found in thrift stores in perfect conditions for a low price. While you could get two pieces of clothing for $80 at stores like Urban Outfitters, or American Eagle, you could also get dozens of things for that price at a thrift store.
Not only this, but thrifting is significantly better for the environment than fast fashion is. Every piece of clothing requires hundreds of gallons of water to make the cotton for it. There’s also pesticides that are used to make cotton and these usually end up contaminating ground and surface water that leads to disruption in ecosystems. If people would start taking a little extra time out of their day and take their clothes to a thrift store instead of throwing them away, it would help the environment just a little more. It would start a cycle of buying new clothes from the thrift and giving back old clothes that are no longer used. One man's trash is another man's treasure and thrifting is one of the best examples of this. And if everybody did a little bit more than our Earth would slowly become an Earth again and no longer be a carbon filled, overpopulated planet filled with careless people. So as hard as it is to rip away from the grasp of fast fashion consumption, think about how much more important it is to save the planet. Thrifting is such a small thing that could not only positively impact our Earth, but could also positively impact communities and families.