I am an avid thrifter, and it is a part of my journey towards a more sustainable, compassionate lifestyle. Initially, thrifting merely meant clothing I could afford as a poor student and the exhilaration of finding those diamonds in the rough, but I later realized these personal benefits I was enjoying were just small snapshots of the greater landscape. Buying used helps the environment, and it helps people, too.
Replacing our products with new ones and trashing the old when they become outdated or in need of repair is not a sustainable option. Not only does it add waste to the landfills, but new raw materials must be continually extracted to produce new items. Also, many popular brands are made in countries where working conditions and wages are questionable and the supply chain convoluted, making it very difficult to determine the ethicality of your purchase.
By shopping used, rather than using your money to support these dubious companies and the perpetual devastation of land, you will instead, more simply and straightforwardly, be supporting the thrift store (many of which are charitable entities!) and helping to preserve our resources.
"The Story of Stuff", by Annie Leonard, inspired me to consider the necessity of all of my purchases, to research the product that will last the longest and have the smallest footprint, to try to fix things that have broken rather than tossing them, and to always check used options first. I now keep a list of items I'd like to eventually have - that way, whenever I am at a thrift store or yard sale, I can check for those items. Sometimes I find exactly what I'm looking for!
A few weeks back, I visited a new-to-me thrift store on it's "half-off day" with a dear friend for some much-needed girl time and guilt-free retail therapy. I just want to preface this thrifting anecdote with:
It was a disaster.
After experiencing moderate success with clothing for ourselves, we decided to buy some clothes for our husbands who had predictably chosen to sit the clothes-shopping errand out at home. Thus, we shopped blindly, trying to envision whether items would fit, or whether they were to their taste. I bought three shirts for less than two dollars each, and until I got them home, had completely failed to notice that:
One didn't fit.
One was stubbornly ink-stained.
And for the grand finale, one was mysteriously missing
EVERY.
SINGLE.
BUTTON.
Front, collar, and sleeves. A good 14 buttons just cut off by the previous owner before they willy-nilly decided to donate the shirt. What. The. Heck.
In the end, we donated the oversized shirt and decided the ink-stained shirt was actually fine because, as a self-proclaimed stain magnet, it relieved the pressure of trying to stay clean when he wore it (to each their own, okay?). And finally, I decided the sad, buttonless garment just needed a little love.
I dug through my button collection and found ones that seemed complimenting. I thought about sewing them on by hand, because I wasn't sure how to use that feature on my humble sewing machine but I wound up putting my nose to the grindstone and breaking out the manual that described the surprisingly simple process. My husband and I were both very pleased with the final results and feel that this quality, functional shirt is now one of his nicest!
Ultimately, I am grateful for my thrifting fiasco (the first of many to come, I'm sure). Had someone else bought the shirt missing all the buttons, it may have been trashed. What a waste! This rescued shirt now looks brand-new and beautiful!
It seems like mending is sort of an outdated concept, and this makes me a little sad. We operate in such a disposable culture. Why fix this shirt, when I can throw it away and get a new shirt? Lots of reasons. Let's bring mending back y'all! Here's to a more sustainable future! Where we all save our spare buttons and repair over replacing. <3
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