How Thrifting is Better for the Environment
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” - There’s something so fulfilling about finding a unique piece of clothing that matches your style perfectly. It’s even more fulfilling when you find this item in a secondhand shop. Why? Because you are not only rewarding your wallet, but you are also doing some good for the planet.
We create 9 million tons of waste with just our discarded clothing and footwear. If each person bought a pre-loved item instead of purchasing new, we could save 15.6kg of carbon and you will also save money (it’s the perfect scenario)! Take a look at how thrifting is doing more to save the environment:
Reduces Our Carbon Footprint
We all know that carbon emissions are harmful to the environment, that’s no secret; but what is less well known is how much the fashion industry contributes to emitting carbon into the atmosphere. The industry is the second largest contributor in the world, behind the oil and gas industry, and is responsible for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions.
When you buy second hand, you're preventing a massive waste of energy and resources on making new clothes. Let’s do our part in reducing our carbon footprint while looking good in our pre-loved outfits in the process.
Minimizes Water Consumption
In a similar sense, thrifting also reduces water consumption. The fashion industry is a significant consumer of water, using 79 billion cubic meters of water a year. Huge amounts of water are used to produce the materials needed for the dyeing process. One t-shirt requires 10,000 liters of water to produce the amount of cotton needed for production.
There’s wet processing and printing, packaging and transportation processes which also contribute significantly to the industry’s water consumption. When you donate to second hand stores or go thrifting rather than purchase mass produced clothing online, you’re helping preserve water.
Eliminates Textile waste
On average, Americans create 80 pounds of textile waste every year. This waste ends up in landfills and causes damage to our environment. As all these clothes decompose over time, they can generate greenhouse gasses and emit toxic chemicals. Even clothes that are made with “biodegradable materials” won’t biodegrade properly and emit harmful chemicals.
So in order to reduce adding more waste to our already full landfills, start donating your old clothes and buy any new clothes you need from second hand shops. You are already doing more to help save our planet.
If we want to start seeing changes in the fashion industry, we have to take baby steps to get there. If we all do our part and begin shopping for more pre-loved items instead of always buying new, we can become part of the solution rather than contributing to the problem.
