Secondhand – The Ways To Shop Sustainably

As a second part of ‘The Ways to Shop Sustainably’, today I am going to talk about secondhand shopping and my actual shopping experience in a thrift store. I think the easiest way to shop secondhand is to visit thrift stores around us. There are big chain stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army and several small local thrift stores out there. Even online thrift stores from ThredUp to Poshmark are thriving as more people shop online than before.

First of all, I want to point out the reasons to buy second hands. It does not only help you save money, but also creates recycling community. Recycling clothes becomes a resource to people while helping those in need and the environment. On a social level, it’s a place where people can build a new identity out of used clothing that gives them greater mobility in the social world. On a community level, it builds a culture of recycling. Also, it is more sustainable. Too many clothes are being thrown away only after worn few times, and they all go to the landfills. Aside from landfills there’s damage to the environment, loss of habitat for animals, and pollution of natural resources as there is a lot of water and chemicals that go into clothing productions and manufacturing. However, using second hand can make clothes have longer lifespan and lessen the landfills.

Besides all these good reasons, second hand shopping gives you the uniqueness. Second hand items are almost one-on-a-kind. You can find the most unique and trend items on the pile of second hand items in a thrift store. I personally enjoy finding gems in the thrift stores, and sometimes got compliments and asked by people where I bought my clothing from. It is hard to find items over $10 dollars in most of the thrift or secondhand stores, and many of them have special discount days by some specific color tags or offers student discounts on specific weekdays, so you would rather check your local stores before purchasing items.

I went to one of Good Will stores in my local area, and I would like to share my experience and some of the great pieces that I got from there.

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There were lots of clothing racks including women’s, men’s, and children’s, shoe racks and bag racks. Any items with purple or red tag was in 50% off sale when I visited there, and this tag colors for discounts change everyday. Veterans can get 15% off any time while seniors on Tuesday and students on Thursday can get 15% discount. On Sunday, there is a one dollar deal for certain color tags. (It’s different among stores.)

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The price starts with $1.99 for t-shirts, and most items cost between $3.99 and $7.99. As you can see, I found some of great designer brand pieces in excellent conditions! You can sometimes find rare vintage pieces that you cannot find anywhere else.

I understand that some people might find difficulties and have no idea where to start since there are too many things in the thrifty store. However, once you get into it and start to find something, you will find fun there and be a regular customer soon. I highly recommend for you to visit any thrift stores near you and explore there sometime soon. I am sure you will have fun and be proud of yourself finding some treasures.