Thrift shopping is considered sustainable by many people, in fact because of that it became so popular. It is especially popular within the Gen Z, when in 2019 around of 40 percent of Gen Z were buying second hand clothing. The comeback of the 70s to 90s styles has also caused thrift shopping to become so popular.
Thrift shopping is very attractive with its low prices, interesting garments that could be found and the feeling of purchasing something sustainable. By keeping the garments in circulation longer people reduce the amount of waste.
Once it was essential for people with tight budgets, but since then prices at some thrift shops increased a lot due to the high popularity. This has had a big impact on people for whom sopping at thrift stores was necessary because of limited finances. They were not buying thrifted clothing because it is trendy.
From the outside it seems like there is nothing that could be unsustainable about thrift shopping, but when looking more into it it does not seem so perfect anymore. With the low pricing , many people are buying a lot of thrifted clothes because why not. It is important to determine what garments you actually need and which don't because the less you buy the more helpful it is for the planet. Even though it is better for the environment to buy a lot of thrifted clothes than fast fashion, it still is overconsumption.
But buying a lot of thrifted clothing could lead to some issues, some countries have even banned import of second hand clothes because it lead to the collapse of local manufacturers and people losing their jobs.
Apps like Depop have made thrift shopping accessible to anyone, the prices of the second hand clothing on this app are around 10 times higher than what they actually cost. Also the priority shipping of the products to other countries and tracking them increases the carbon footprints, which makes the whole shopping less sustainable.
Many thrift stores also have a lack of plus size clothing, which could have people feeling bad about their bodies and feeling left out.
When thrift shopping it is important to consider factors as overconsumption and ethics to have a sustainable experience and cause no harm. It is more sustainable to shop from local clothing sales than ordering from other countries.
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