Author: 
Ever since I was a small kid I can remember going thrifting with my parents. The vibrant clothes, the massive shoes, and the strange and miscolored furniture, I can still remember it so clearly. While I wasn’t always the most enthusiastic about staying at the local Goodwill for hours at a time, it’s something I now look back on with a smile. Even to this day it still feels like a treasure hunt every time I walk into a second-hand apparel store, a feeling that has never gone away since I first started thrifting.
Thrifted yet fashionable clothes from my childhood
Living in the Greenbelt housing has really opened my eyes to how thrifting and overall recycling items can be highly beneficial to living a sustainable lifestyle. My closet consists of about 90% thrifted clothes, which saves me money and allows me to explore many different styles that I never would have found otherwise. Recently some of my fellow cabin members and I have been working on a free store that essentially has the same concept as a thrift store, except for the fact that everything is free. This project has reignited my passion for thrifting and recycling clothes, and I hope to foster a community built upon repurposing the things we no longer want. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure after all.
Thrifting not only saves you money, but it also helps save the environment. You can almost hear the money rolling in. According to roundup.org, over 100 billion garments are made every year, and on top of this over 92 million tons of clothing end up in landfills.
It may be easy to blame the fashion industry for all of the excess clothing being produced, but it’s also important for us as consumers to take ownership of our fault in it as well. Consumers on average own 60% more clothing than they did 15 years ago, but each item is only worn 50% as often as we used to. This excessive consumerism and overproduction has long-lasting effects on the environment around us, as many of these garments contain fossil-fuel heavy synthetic garments (plastic, polyester, nylon) which don’t break down naturally in the environment. Instead they end up as microplastics, which when ingested can cause DNA damage, reproductive harm, and can change your gene activity, which increases the risk of cancer. As a whole, the overproduction and overconsumption of clothes and other garments has nothing but negative effects for our environment and for us.
So you may be asking yourself, “How can I help combat this unsustainable practice?” Well have I got the solution for you. Thrifting gives clothes a new purpose rather than ending up in a landfill, which greatly helps reduce pollution and waste. In addition, spending your hard earned cash on second-hand clothes not only saves you money but helps cut down on overconsumption of new clothes as well. So what are we waiting for? Give thrifting a try today!
References
Ruiz, Arabella. “17 Most Worrying Textile Waste Statistics & Facts.” The Roundup, 18 Mar. 2024, https://theroundup.org/textile-waste-statistics/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Dutchen, Stephanie. “Microplastics Everywhere.” Harvard Medicine Magazine, Spring 2023, https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/microplastics-everywhere. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Van Brande, Helena. “6 Unsustainable Fabrics to Avoid.” This Green Lifestyle, 11 Dec. 2023, https://www.thisgreenlifestyle.com/all-articles/6-unsustainable-fabrics-to-avoid. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Boyle, Rob. “What Is Upcycling?” Emission Index, updated 21 June 2024, https://www.emission-index.com/carbon-footprint/upcycling. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.