Hate it or love it, Valentine’s day is almost here.
Second hand shopping might have already won you over, or maybe you’re in the early stages of your relationship with the world of used. Either way, we hope this blog post will help you fall even more in love with second hand shopping and show you why vintage is the perfect match for a healthy, happy planet 🌎
On the rocks:
You probably already know that fast fashion and the planet have a pretty rocky relationship. But what are the facts? We know there’s already a lot of bad news out there at the minute, but we just wanted to share with you just a few heart-breaking truths:
- The production of new textiles contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined (House of Commons).
- It can take an estimated 20,000L of water to make just one pair of jeans and a T-shirt (Oxfam)
- Over two-thirds of textiles are now made from materials derived from fossil fuels, like polyester and nylon.
- And to top it off, more than 150 BILLION new garments are produced every single year at immense cost to our planet (Fashion Revolution).
All sounds pretty overwhelming, but don’t worry, there’s a solution.
Show our planet some love!
The solution is a complex one, but we know for sure is that we can all make a difference by choosing to buy used instead of new. Easier said than done, but remember that just 1 small act can make a huge difference. If everyone bought one item used instead of new this year it would save:
- 204 million kgs of clothing waste (the weight of 1 million polar bears)
- 25 billion gallons of water (1.25 billions showers)
- 5.7 billion lbs of CO2 emissions (the same as taking 500,000 cars off our roads for a year).
(Source: Green Story Inc / ThreadUp)
By choosing second hand clothes you’re showing the planet a lot of love! Buying vintage clothing not only saves textiles from landfill, but they don’t require any additional resources to make (they already exist!), so have a lower environmental impact than new clothes.
The future is bright
It’s not all doom and gloom. A consumer survey by GlobalData found that 80% of Gen Z say there’s no stigma to buying used fashion and are adopting second hand more than any other fashion group. Warp have also reported that two-thirds of UK consumers buy or receive second-hand clothes, and there is a willingness to wear more.
Statistics even show that the secondary market could become bigger than fast fashion over the next 10 years (Orsola de Castro, Fashion Revolution).
So things are looking up, but there’s still work to do.
Be mine
Flirting with the idea of buying less new and more used? Tap here to find loads of sustainable stuff that might just be the perfect match for your wardrobe.
