Thrift stores have popped up in response to today’s age of consumerism, becoming highly popular over the last decade1 and for very good reasons. You can find things you never would elsewhere and more importantly, you can contribute to saving the planet! Our environment is being rapidly depleted of resources at the same alarming rate that your t-shirts and designer shoes are being made on a daily basis.
Thrift stores have taken advantage of recycling to help reduce the toll industry takes on our environment and help to build a sustainable future for our planet. It’s time to get ‘thrifty’!
An example of this would be that producing just 1kg of cotton clothing can waste up to 20,000 litres of water, which is then heavily polluted and poured back into our seas. To top this off, there are millions of clothes being thrown out each year that are in good condition, in favour of the next new fashion statement.
Thrift stores have taken advantage of recycling to help reduce the toll industry takes on our environment and help to build a sustainable future for our planet. It’s time to get ‘thrifty’
What Is A Thrift Shop?
The word thrift is defined as the “quality of using money and other resources carefully and not wastefully.” It was originally derived from Old Norse variants of the words ‘prosperity’ and ‘thrive.’ In the 1500s, the term ‘thrifty’ was first coined for having a habit of saving money . These days it’s the same with thrift stores, you save money on good quality buys and environmental resources for each item that gets recycled.
Usually a thrift shop is run by a charity or non-profit organisation to raise money for their cause and sells second hand items at lower-than-usual prices . A Thrift store can also be referred to as a charity shop, a hospice shop, resale shop, drift store, opportunity shop or op shop.
Top Reasons Why You Should Love & Support Thrift Culture
1| Looking Good & Helping Your Community Thrift stores help support charities and most often don’t work for self gain. Often the profit from thrift stores goes to helping the needy. By purchasing clothing from them, you can feel just as good as you look!
2| Our Collective Thrift Purchases Can Save The World Buying second hand and recycling will do more wonders for our Earth than one can even comprehend! Fast fashion has turned the fashion industry into an ecological nightmare with each passing year, as billions of resources go into making new clothing.
The majority of these brand new goods get thrown away after the fleeting trend is over, going to the landfill and silently demolishing our environment . Thus much of the clothing in thrift stores barely stands up to the title of second-hand, sometimes only having been worn once. By repurchasing these goods, we can start to help save our world from environmental disaster.
3| Save Money And Even Make More Money! Many people buy things compulsively and can’t actually afford to do so. Thrift stores offer clothing that’s trendy at a fraction of the price.
Further, thrift stores would be happy to buy your pre-loved clothing allowing you to monetarily benefit to! So you can not only allow yourself the guilty pleasure of shopping more often, but also control your bank balance!
4| Being True To Yourself & Your Style Unlike fast fashion brands, in a thrift store, you can find one-of-a-kind apparel that will stylishly set you apart from everybody else. Be true to yourself, set new trends and find that timeless piece of clothing to set your wardrobe on fire!
5| You Can Give Away As Much As You Get To fully get immersed in thrift culture, we too can donate our excess clothing that we no longer wear and that’s in good condition. When a thrift store supports a charity, they’ll accept donations of clothes that you don’t use anymore. Give back in a way that is responsible for your community and the environment.
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