Buying used goods, specifically clothes, doesn't need to mean you cannot afford something new. It could be that the items in second-hand shops may be unique vintage, small in stock, or something of important value that you may never have the chance to buy once more if you lose out on it.
If you’re not previously considering buying secondhand every time you shop then the time is now. There is so many causes to buy secondhand and some of those will advantage you as well as the planet!
Many people are doubtful to buy second-hand items, assuming that they risk obtaining a bad surprise. However, the reality is very varied. There are 6 good reasons to buy second-hand is finer than you might believe.
Number One
It is the most sustainable way of shopping considering that Oxfam reported that every week 13 million items of clothing are dumped into landfill in the UK alone so this is only the UK and only clothing but if we start considering every single item that we dump into landfill worth
while the total amount will become overwhelming so buying secondhand is a good way to avoid perfectly good items going into landfill secondly it does also relieve a lot of pressure from the market and that's because of course the more we buy the more we press companies to produce more because we are showing that we want more
but if we stop buying directly from them then we can hope that in time we can revert a little bit of process and go back into producing what we need rather than overproducing like we are doing now and this, of course, will have a good impact on the environment because we tend to look only at the end a product of our products
So all the stuff that we are saying to landfill but we are wasting a lot in the whole chain process and a production chain sorry and that's because we are using a lot of resources to produce items that are going to the landfill
Almost straight away and that's incredibly wasteful so of course, buying second hands again will avoid using that many resources for stuff that after all we don't need
NUMBER TWO
Number two it is also more ethical and that's because it is no mystery that the fashion industry, as well as many many other industries out there, are deeply unethical the items that we are using are mainly produced by people that are working in the condition of modern slavery
This means that they are paid next to nothing they work shifts that are 12 to 15 hours sometimes even more they are working in extremely unsafe conditions always saying in the uh fashion industry example it's sufficient to remember the disaster of the Rana plaza
When a factor that was not meant to be a factory collapsed and because there were no safety measures at all out there more than a thousand people lost their lives so unsafe also the majority of people are women and they are often subjected to harassment and rape and finally there are even a lot of children working there so if that is not unethical for you I don't know what it is
I don't want to know so buying secondhand is a good way to stop supporting an industry that is working in very unethical conditions and that's for me a huge huge thing and one of the main reasons why I am buying secondhand for example also if there is a brand or an item or anything you can
Think of what you like but the company is not ethical enough for your standard buying secondhand can also be a way to still enjoy what you want but without directly supporting these companies and um I know that a lot of people would probably not agree with this uh part
Because you are still uh using an item that is uh produced analytically even if you put it secondhand and especially if the item is branded or um if you are just sharing it on social media you're still gifting the brand advertisement so you are still in a way compelling other people and showing them
That these are great items and they will probably buy them now so that's not really a great result but I am not completely in agreement with this uh view it has its points I’m not denying that but first of all uh buying second-hand is still more sustainable than buying something new
Even if the new thing is uh super sustainable and super ethical also realistically not everyone can afford to buy everything super sustainable and super ethical because these brands are often expensive and not everyone can do that and it is unfair to exclude people from the discussion
just because they don't have the means to have a perfect zero waste and sustainable life that would be unfair third we don't need very few people to do a sustainable life perfectly we need a lot of people to do everything they can to live a more sustainable life
If we want to do that that sustainable life needs to be achievable and that is not just in terms of economical means but also honestly psychologically if we are asking people to shift their mindset and entire habits from day to night that's not achievable that's not feasible for the majority of people out there
The hat we probably have the opposite effect of making people live a more zero-waste lifestyle rather than coming into it so still buying second-hand is a good way to include people and to make people live a more sustainable lifestyle while not having to sacrifice their normal life so that's why I support still buying your unethical clothes but secondhand
NUMBER 3
In the list of 6 good reasons to buy second-hand, this is the 3rd reason to buy second hand apologies for the rambling but these were the two points that required more words so I swear that the next ones will be way faster number three is cheap and there are exceptions to that
But generally speaking, buying a secondhand is way cheaper than buying the same things new, and sometimes it can even be free you would really be surprised at how many things you can find for free
Either because people just want to get rid of them without throwing them away or if you even better if you establish to like a swapping network with your friends and family in which
YOU CAN ALSO CHECK HOW TO GET DESIGNER CLOTHE FOR CHEAP
NUMBER 4
It has a better result value and I know that this is a little bit counterintuitive because we are used to things that new things have a better result value than things that have been already used in our world but actually
It's not like this at all and that's because when you are uh when you have something new that you want to resell that you both knew um you have to lower the price to be able to sell that item and you would be surprised of how much you have to uh go down and that's independently on how much you spent
Because there are very few things that maintain their price over time and that you can sell for the same price sometimes, even more, the majority of stuff even if you expend much cash over them
You are obliged to go a lot lower to be able to sell them but if you bought them second-hand in the first place so you already bought them at a discount price you might be able to even resell them for the same amount you bought them for of course if it is in the same condition but even if you have to lower your price then um you will lose a lot less money than if you bought that thing firsthand
NUMBER FIVE
Chances are that these items will also be of much better quality than what you can find in shops and that's because nowadays the majority of things are mass produced
and also they are produced very quickly and very cheaply because companies are cutting corners wherever they can also uh this means that they want lasting times but also they are done in a way that they become obsolete very very fast
so that we are obliged to buy more stuff quite quickly so considering that once the things were done to last and not to last just a season then chances are that what you find um a second hand especially if these are a little bit older will be of much better quality and what you will find now
NUMBER 7 good reasons to buy second-hand
Finally number seven anime favorite it's fun believe me guys you can have a lot of fun trying to find the perfect item second hands or just scavenging around in trip shops and charity shops and antique events
This kind of thing and to be honest at the very beginning it wasn't fun at all it was quite frustrating because I wasn't able to find anything that I wanted and I really couldn't understand how people were finding all these amazing stuff secondhand
But it does require a little bit of practice to understand what you want where you can find the things to look for etc because of course depending on whatever person you are you will have different needs
But also depending on where you live uh what is uh available to you is very different so it does take a little bit of time to figure out exactly how to go around things but once you acquire a little bit of practice,
believe me, it is super fun at the moment it's a challenge for me to find everything I need a second hand and possibly at a variety these are the reasons
0 Comments