Features

Saving the planet one Goodwill at a time

Hanna Cutler, Writer | 03/10/2022

Between rising gas prices and overpriced grocery stores, many high school students find themselves running low on cash, with little money available to put towards more material things such as shopping. The genius solution in the 21st century: thrifting.

For a much lower price than retail stores, thrifting provides a wide assortment of fashionable clothes to anyone willing to spend the time and effort to dig through the piles of old clothes people have donated. However, second-hand stores are not only cost-effective, they are also incredibly beneficial to the environment because they combat fast fashion.

Fast fashion is the rapid, mass production of clothes, which results in lower quality items that are ultimately thrown away in only a few years. These cheaply made, “trendy” pieces lead to overconsumption and have harmful implications for the environment, garment workers, and consumers' wallets.

Thrifting helps to reduce the negative effects of fast fashion in a variety of ways, such as keeping clothes out of landfills. Many of the synthetic materials that clothes are made of today don’t degrade. When thrown away, clothes will forever take up large amounts of space in landfills and contribute to the greenhouse gasses that are killing the Earth.

People who donate clothes and shop second hand are doing the planet a huge favor by limiting the clothes that end up in landfills.

Thrifting also lowers your carbon footprint. Fast fashion uses a plethora of materials and energy to create the millions of articles of clothing that fill stores each week. When you buy from thrift stores, you prevent a massive amount of energy and resources from being wasted on the production of new clothes. By limiting our own carbon footprints through thrifting, we can start to take small steps towards lowering the world’s.

Thrifting, although largely beneficial, can have a negative impact on lower-income communities, as a surge of wealthier people buy out the already limited, affordable clothing options. The gentrification of second hand stores can cause prices to rise, reducing the number of cheap, quality clothes available.

However, according to a study conducted by Boston University, two million tons of clothing are donated to thrift stores annually. There are enough recycled clothes for everyone to thrift as long as they remain conscious of others while shopping.

Only buy clothes that are in your size and that you plan to wear. Don’t buy clothes just to resell them for a higher price. That defeats the purpose.

The benefits of thrifting far outweigh the downsides. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This refrain has never been more true. Head to your local Goodwill today and help save the planet!